Of Other Worlds and Odder Things
by Sarcarai
Summary: What if the war left Hogwarts destitute of wards?  Who could be counted on to help Hogwarts?  Maybe Hogwarts has the answers...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is true. I'm absolutely broke. But, it's especially true towards anything regarding Harry Potter. So much awesomeness belongs to one J. K. Rowling. Who is not me. Clear enough?**

With a sudden burst of wind and a shocking scream of brilliantly colored lightning, six unfamiliar figures landed in an otherwise familiar location. There arose from the tangled group groans and grunts along with a few baritone voiced curses.

"Bloody buggering hell-" a girlish shriek sounded.

"Ah, sorry Hermione, I didn't mean to-"

"That wasn't _me_, Neville. I'm perfectly fine, if a bit squished."

"Oh. Alright then. Gin?"

"Wasn't me either. I'm too out of breath to shriek like that, but thanks. Was it Luna?"

"Nah, she landed on top of me. If anybody ought to be shrieking it'd be me." The group managed to disentangle themselves, revealing a red-faced Ron Weasley and a highly amused Harry Potter.

"You kneed me in the bollocks, Harry." Ron groaned. Harry began to laugh. "'Snot funny, mate. I'd appreciate being able to have children someday. 'Specially with the bloody war finally being over."

Luna smiled dreamily. "So the girly shriek came from Ron. I do find that rather funny." She gazed at him fondly before moving to dust Neville off. Hermione moved to do the same for Ron, as well as to attempt some manner of sympathizing, while Ginny moved to embrace Harry, grinning broadly at her brother's misfortune.

"So," Harry began, looking around. "Any theories on why we appear to be on Hogwarts grounds, when last I knew we were in the Great Hall? And please don't mention that apparating is impossible."

"Well," Hermione began a bit uncertainly, casting her wand about in a curious fashion. "I don't suppose you recall that rather strange voice we heard? Based upon what it said, I can make a few conjectures, but they seem highly unlikely. Not to mention somewhat impossible."

"Ah, but what is impossible for one, may not be so for another. It has to do with perception and the unknown." Luna continued to gaze wide-eyed at their surroundings. "For example, while this appears at first glance to be the edge of the forbidden forest, the view of Hogwarts Castle is far different from the one we have recently become accustomed to." Her voice grew slightly sad. "Look."

As one, the group turned to look in the direction of the castle, noting, not a battle-weary monument, but something more in line with their memories of the past.

"But that's impossible!" Burst out Ron. "That was in grave need of repair just yesterday!"

"Not even magic can fix something of that level of destruction in so quick a time." Hermione's expression was troubled and she paused momentarily in her strange casting. "And just this morning I was discussing with McGonagall and Flitwick the problem of Hogwart's wards." Harry swung around to face her, alarmed.

"Problems?" She looked at him sorrowfully.

"Yes, the Founders laid in place powerful wards to protect Hogwarts- and even Hogsmeade!- but the battle, all of the rampart magic with so much death and destruction, wreaked a terrible price on the wards. We suppose we can manage normal wards, but they will never be as powerful and likely not as useful. Hogwarts may never be as safe again." They gazed at the pseudo-Hogwarts with something akin to regret.

"It doesn't seem right." Ginny said, wiping her eyes. "We fought so hard, lost so much and- it's just not fair." She turned into Harry's hug, weeping silently. Luna laid her hand on Ginny's shoulder.

"It will turn out alright. It always does, in the end. If nothing else, we were sent here for some reason."

She looked towards the strange Hogwarts with a smile. "Why can't it be for this one?"

A subtle bell-like tone sounded behind them. They turned, wands drawn, to see an ethereal being. She smiled faintly at their readiness, but raised her hands in a gesture of peace.

"Peace, my children. I have indeed brought you here for a purpose. If you would take my hands and join in a circle, I will tell you all." She extended her hands towards them. With a slight look of hesitation on his part and little to none on hers, Luna and Harry both moved to take her hands, linking with the rest of them. They soon found themselves in a set of chambers that looked very much a part of the Castle. She smiled to see them looking around. She turned them towards the fireplace around which was arranged seating similar to the Houses Common Rooms. After they sat, they turned towards her and she began.

"I am the Lady Hogwarts. Over time, so much magic has accumulated within me and such were the personalities that built me, that I have gained sentience of my own. With this power, I have managed to reach my parallel forms, and discovered one in much need. You may be aware of the concept of time that holds that with each major decision, an alternate universe begins." Hermione gasped. "Yes, child, this world is one that has not yet suffered a second war with the man called Voldemort. He was thankfully halted before his power could grow, but the possibility of a return remains. It was my belief, and I mean mine and the me of your world of course, that to bring you six here would be mutually beneficial to our causes. You could rid us of Voldemort's terror before he even begins again, and I can give you the means to repair your home. But, of course, if you would rather not, I can very easily set you back in your world. Know, however, that this is a one-time only chance. If you manage this task, though, you may very well be able to establish a permanent link between our two worlds. Something that in time I believe you may come to appreciate greatly. I will leave you for the night to contemplate my words. This form grows ever so weary after a time." With her final words she faded into the walls of Hogwarts.

"This could be exactly what we need!" Hermione jumped up, looking excited. "If this is true-and I see no reason to believe it's not, trust me I've done every spell I could think of to verify this- then we could save Hogwarts!" She began pacing. "Not to mention the possibilities this kind of opportunity opens up. I mean, imagine it!" She looked at them in triumph. "With access to a whole different world, who knows what sort of problems we could solve. We could cure AIDS!"

They looked rather alarmed, Harry in particular. "Ah, 'Mione? Mate?" He stood up and led her back to her seat next to Ron. "That's a rather long jump from the wards of Hogwarts. How about we start with-"

"What the bloody hell we're supposed to do!" Ron appeared particularly bewildered. "I mean, c'mon! Alternate worlds?" He turned towards Hermione a bit indignantly. "And what d'you mean you've verified this? I think we'd all like to know how." They all looked at her, Harry's eyebrow lifted in question. She blushed.

"Well. I, er, I may have, you know, just in case, I—" She rushed through her explanation, focusing on the fire rather than her friend and fiancé's faces. Ron sighed loudly.

"Hermione, love, that made no bloody sense. Care to try again?"

"With something called 'enunciation' this time, Oh future sister dear?" Ginny said, grinning.

"Fine. It's, well, it's something I've been interested in for a long time, actually. If you remember, I didn't exactly have any friends when we first started at Hogwarts- No, Ron and Harry, don't start feeling guilty right now- but in my spare time- of which I had rather admittedly a lot of- I pursued a subject that interested me before Hogwarts." She managed to look a bit sheepish. "You don't know this about me but I was an avid fantasy and sci-fi reader before Hogwarts. Erm, still am really. Only, most of the time, our textbooks and the books in the Library are more interesting reads. Because they're _real_. And I sort of stumbled upon a book about time travel. After third year actually… I was rather interested to research the Time Turners and-" she looked at Harry, "After what Harry managed to do with the Dementors and all, I just," she shrugged, "I kept digging and I've continued reading theory on the subject for ages now." She looked at them all rather solemnly. "I found a book in the restricted section about a week ago. At the time, I thought it had been overlooked, because it seems like the sort of book that the Unspeakables would take exception to being readily available-" She paused. "But now I wonder if Hogwarts hid it on purpose, in case it was ever needed, and she decided that I needed to read it before sending us on this trip." She reached into the beaded purse she had taken to carrying and pulled out _Time-travel and Wonderfully Wacky Worlds_ by Trekky Tenant. She looked down at it somewhat fondly. "It details a theory that is arithmically substantiated purporting that for every event that shapes the world, an equal and opposite event takes place in an Alter World. Meaning, Voldemort is born in one world, Voldemort is not in the other. Hitler loses in one world, he may win in another."

"Which really sucks for that world," Ron muttered.

She nodded slightly before turning to Harry. "Harry Potter is born in one world. In another he never existed. Who knows what makes this world different, Harry. It may be that- that you- that you _died _here, Harry. Oh Harry," she flung herself at the bewildered Potter, crying. Ron looked at Harry, seemingly torn between a _What the hell?_ look of commiseration and a _What'd you do?_ glare of accusation. Harry himself was unsure of what to do. The awkward memory of Cho crying and the subsequent kiss surfaced, and he shuddered. Somehow that didn't seem to be the right thing to do, so he settled for patting Hermione awkwardly on the back. Ginny gave him a look of sympathy, although he noticed her eyes were suspiciously bright as well, and allowed her to take Hermione.

"Shhh, Hermione. Even if something happened to Harry in this world, at least he exists in ours. Nothing can change that, alright?" She looked at Hermione firmly. "Okay? Everything is going to be okay. Now breathe. Just breathe." Once Hermione calmed down, she asked her, "Think you can continue now?" Hermione nodded before sitting next to Ron.

"Well, what I was getting at is that something about this world changed so that although it should be along the same timeline as our own, it hasn't experienced all of the same events, and it may end up happier than our own, or worse, or even- just different. I think Lady Hogwarts wants to ensure that both worlds end up relatively unscathed."

Neville's brow furrowed. "But what about the time-travel bit? It's in the title after all."

"Oh," said Hermione, "that's actually rather interesting. It suggests that some major events that split worlds could be the result of time-travel, but not, I think time-travel of the degree that I and Harry managed in third year. I believe that to be the reason time-travel is said to be unsafe after more than a few hours and any possible means to do otherwise are banned, but even that could be world-splitting if an extremely major decision was changed. But most decisions don't seem so earth-shattering until far into the future, so say we went back in time and killed Voldemort before his horcruxes, than most likely a separate world would break off; ours and the new one. It's a theory that's spilled over into the muggle world even."

"Yes, Father wrote an interesting piece on it once, but the Unspeakables used a time-turner to stop the printing of that issue, so he turned his attention to the Crumple-Horned Snorkack instead." Luna rather dreamily played with a strand of Neville's hair, quite oblivious to the incredulous looks of Ron and Hermione and the rather amused ones of Harry and Ginny.

"Well," Neville coughed, "So general consensus is- what exactly?"

Harry pondered the matter for a moment. "Well, if this is all true, then it probably doesn't even really matter." His friends looked at him surprised. "No, I mean, doesn't this seem like a rather important decision, too? I mean, if we don't do it, who's to say that a- a, erm, a splinter world or what have you, won't go off and do exactly the opposite of us? The question is, do we want to be the world that does it, or the world that doesn't?"

There was an almost solemn silence for a moment before Ron said slowly, "You know, I think we should do it. If it can save Hogwarts, why not?" He looked at them each.

Neville nodded. "I think it's worth a try."

Ginny smiled at Harry. "I think it's a good idea." Hermione nodded, tucking her hand into Ron's. Luna jumped up happily and clapped her hands.

"So it's decided! And if we manage to establish a link between the worlds, maybe Daddy and I can do some research on the Crumple-Horned Snorkack here!" She twirled slightly while the other looked on in fond amusement.

The next morning dawned bright and early, though they weren't aware of that fact. Indeed, so tiring had been the journey between worlds that they all slept in far later than they'd grown used to. Save for Ron. He was prodded awake by a first amused and then steadily more exasperated girlfriend. At best, one could say that one Hermione Granger found it quite easy to fall back into a seven-year habit of bossy bickering with one Ron- AKA Ronald- Weasley.

"Some things never change," Neville said ruefully to Harry. Harry suppressed a yawn and grinned.

"If they did, then we'd know the world really was ending. Hi, love," he said, burying his nose in Ginny's red hair. She giggled.

"Hello, yourself." She watched Ron and Hermione in amusement. "I see they're getting past the initial lovey-dovey stage."

"Oh, they'll get there again after they get married." Luna linked arms with Neville and surveyed the now blushing couple with wide, unblinking eyes. "Although I wonder how their bickering will seem when they really are an old married couple." She seemed quite content to stay there staring at them while she pondered this seemingly fascinating idea. Suddenly she smiled. "Ah! I know. Wrackspurts are attracted to long marriages, that's why older couples tend to lose track of things. But, when the time comes, I'll help you try to avoid them." She looked at Neville. "Unless they come to me, too, and cause me to forget." Neville blushed suddenly. She brushed his cheek with a bit of concern. "Did the wizzle-weems startle you?" At Neville's look of confusion, she smiled. "Never mind, I know just how to deal with them." And she kissed him fondly upon both cheeks.

"As much as I thoroughly enjoy your interactions with one another," came a softly amused voice behind them, "Am I correct in believing you wish to partake in my offer?" Hogwarts looked at them, waiting for their answer. They looked at each other and finally, Harry nodded.

"Yes," he said. "We are interested in your offer. That is- we are willing to do what you want."

She beamed at them. "In that case, I would like to present you with certain gifts. They will ease your ability to save this world, and they will be the key to reestablishing the ancient wards of your world's Hogwarts. If you would but take my hands once more." This time, neither Harry nor Luna hesitated to do so, and the group knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Amazingly enough, I still do not own anything. Sad, no?**

**I apologize for any grammatical errors, I'm doing this myself and it's always more difficult to find your own mistakes. Hope you enjoy :)**

_Telepathy_

The six world-splitters (as they had jokingly called themselves before going to sleep the night before) woke for the second time that day. Only this time, they were quite different than they had been before their unforeseen nap.

"Arghh," groaned Ron, holding his head. "Anybody else feel like they outran a bludger only to get trampled by a hippogriff?"

"Uh," came Harry's coherent response. "I feel like Dudley used me for punching practice and then Uncle Vernon fell on me." There was a slightly hysterical giggle near him, and he responded to whatever was said. "Well," he said, sounding rather dazed. "I suppose Aunt Petunia could have fallen on me, too, but really, compared to Uncle Vernon, I doubt I'd even notice her." There were a few snorts from the two redheads near him.

"Well, I for one," said Hermione, standing up looking more than a bit queasy. "Think that we need to discuss what just happened-" she turned a pale green for a moment, and swallowed. "_After_ I find some hangover potion." She stumbled away. "Or something to similar affect. Perhaps arsenic."

"Hey," Ron said, looking around as carefully as he could. "Where's Neville? And Lu- Luna?" He fell back onto the sofa nearest him and groaned loudly again as this served only to jostle already unsettled nerves. There was a grumble from behind said sofa. Ginny stared, slack-jawed, at the sofa from her spot on the floor where she had determined it best suited for optimal comfort and recovery.

"It _spoke_," she whispered, awed and sounding more like her befuddled brother than she ever had. Then she rubbed one hand firmly into her eyes, and squinted again at the space she could barely see underneath the couch. She frowned. "Neville. How'd you end up underneath the couch?" She imagined she could see a glare from him and blinked.

"I'm not _underneath_ the bloody sofa! I'm behind it. There's a difference. Now quiet please. I've just come to terms with my death." There was a silvery laugh from the door. Harry, Ron, and Ginny (all of whom were in such positions that they could view the door) turned and saw a quite chipper Luna supporting a much less happy Hermione, but who, one could say, appeared in better, er, _spirits_, than before. At the very least she seemed to have been unsuccessful in her hunt for the solution to end all. Luna floated in her uniquely dreamy way further into the room, somehow managing to pull Hermione with her, who she sat down beside Ron.

"Stay," she admonished them sternly. And she disappeared back in the direction she had come from. She reappeared shortly after, this time bearing five vials. In a moment of sharp-sightedness not particularly customary to her, she attended to them one by one, unstoppering the vials and helping them drink. Once they were all somewhat lucid once more, they settled in as they had the night before.

"Well," Harry said. He scratched his hair rather nervously as he realized they all seemed to be looking to him for answers. Save for Luna. Luna, by all means, was fairly at peace with the world. He coughed. "The first thing I suppose, is to- er, determine whether or not we all experienced the same thing?" They each gave him looks suggesting that was a pointless exercise. He burst out, "Well, why do you all look to _me _for answers?" Their further looks of pitying amusement only frustrated him more.

"Harry, mate, you defeated _Voldemort_." Ron's voice was wryly amused. "Not a whole lot more to be said, really." Hermione chose to speak up.

"We should go about this logically." She waved her wand and conjured up a board to write on. "Now, I'm assuming we all experienced much the same thing, that is, the founders of Hogwarts appeared and some of them chose to impart some of their knowledge and abilities to you. For me, Ravenclaw chose me as her Heir, with Gryffindor choosing me as a sort of lesser ranking heir." She flicked her wand and her name flowed across the board followed by "Ravenclaw/Gryffindor". "Now, Ronald." Ron sighed.

"Well," he said, running his hand through his hair. "I'm Slytherin's Heir," he smiled at the irony and the shock on their faces. "Apparently, he wasn't such a bad guy after all. History's mostly distorted the truth. He only opposed muggleborns being taught at Hogwarts because many of the muggleborns they contacted ended up being killed by their village before anybody could save them. He wanted witches and wizards to marry only each other because it was really the safest option back then. And he was old when he left. He died visiting one of his grandchildren. Erm, I'm like you, Hermione. Gryffindor chose me as a lesser heir as well." He looked around quizzically. "Dunno who his true heir is." He shrugged. Ginny piped up.

"I do," she smiled. "Gryffindor picked me, and then Slytherin and Hufflepuff chose me as a lesser heir." She frowned. "But that leaves only Hufflepuff and none of them can have _two_ true heirs." Everyone turned to Harry, Neville, and Luna. Luna smiled enigmatically and Harry looked a bit green. Neville spoke quietly.

"I'm Hufflepuff's heir. Another lesser heir of Gryffindor, too." He, too, turned to Luna and Harry.

"I am the heir of the Lady of the Lake." Luna's voice was a cheery as it ever was despite the gasps from the others. "Ravenclaw chose me as her lesser heir. And the reason Harry looks a bit ill over there is because he's first and foremost Merlin's Heir." She tuned luminous eyes on him, ignoring the awed looks of the others. "He seems to think this makes him more of a freak." She frowned at him.

"I don't think I'm a freak," Harry said with some distaste. "It's just, weird. I dunno. But Slytherin and Gryffindor chose me as a lesser heir as well."

Ron looked at Harry steadily. Hermione seemed a bit wary, looking between the two as though she could not be sure what was about to happen. There was a bit of tension for a moment as Harry looked at his friend, silently pleading with him not to get jealous. Finally, Ron grinned.

"Had you going for a minute there, eh mate?" Ron shook his head. "Harry, if it's one thing I've come to realize, it's that for all that you seem to get everything as far as fame and power and wealth go, you deserve the good you get, and you tend to get rather a lot more bad than you deserve as a result. Nah, mate, I don't envy you one bit. You be Merlin, I'll be Slytherin, and we'll all do our thing. Hogwarts is what matters right now anyways." Hermione squealed and threw her arms around his neck. At the sight, Harry grinned.

_Well, this is cozy, but there are a few more things we should discuss, I think. _Luna's voice seemed eerily close. They each looked at her in confusion. _As you should now be able to tell, I'm speaking to you mind to mind. I believe the muggles call it telepathy._ Hermione gasped._ I can speak and hear all of you because it is part of my ability as Lady of the Lake. For those of you that share a bond of heirship, however, you can speak to that person at will. For example, Hermione may speak to me due to Ravenclaw, and she can speak to the rest of you because you are all heirs of some sort to Gryffindor. The more bonds of heirship that you share with one another, the stronger your combined magic will be when casting spells together._ Hermione jumped up.

"That's it!" She crowed. "The problem with the wards had to do with power and the fact that all records regarding their creation have been lost. Now, oh, now I need only research the knowledge given to me by Rowena, and, with our combined powers, we should be fully capable of restoring the wards!" She paused in her pacing. "The only thing to do now is to settle the matter of Voldemort in this world and by that time, I should be able to put something together." Her brow furrowed in thought. "That brings us to the matter at hand. We need to know a bit more about this world before we go gallivanting around. After all, who knows what's different here?"

Neville raised a hand. "I think I know the best way to figure that out." Now that he had everybody's attention, he continued. "I spoke a bit with Hogwarts last night when I was thinking about all of this and, on a whim, asked to speak to her. She came, and she told me that Dumbledore is still headmaster and that he would be the one to approach. As Headmaster, he is bound to Hogwarts and therefore cannot do anything to endanger her. With her help, we can approach him and get his help. From there I think it would be a wise idea to visit the vaults that we are now entitled to as Heirs." He held up his hand. "We have the rings of identification after all, and those can't be worn by anyone other than the Heir."

And indeed, sitting neatly on one finger was a heavy ring of golden yellow encasing a large black diamond and on another was a smaller ring of gold inset with a line of small rubies. Curious, the others looked to their own hands and found similar rings. Hermione's were white gold with a large sapphire and a smaller white gold with a similar line of rubies as Neville's. Ginny's main ring was golden with a large ruby and her second was intertwined silver and gold with a double line of emeralds and black diamonds. Ron's large ring was silver containing a large emerald and his second ring was silver with a smaller ruby. Luna's ring was the strangest. The best way to describe it was if somebody had taken a diamond and melted it to form into a ring, that would be it. Unlike the others, she had only the one ring upon which the blue sapphire of Ravenclaw set. Harry's was likewise unique. His ring was the same silver as Slytherin's but with a strange colorful glimmer to it, that, upon further inspection was revealed to be hundreds of perfect tiny gems of varying muted colors. He wore a silver ring inlaid with multiple emeralds and another ring directly next to it, of golden yellow inlaid with smaller rubies. Each ring denoted the rank and status of the bearer and they were in awe of them for a moment before turning to better things.

"So all agreed with Neville's plan?" Harry asked. As they all nodded, he said, "Alright then. We'll find Dumbledore, explain things and then proceed to Gringotts."

"Blimey," Ron said. "I do like actually having a plan for once, but something always manages to get bungled." He yelped suddenly. "Ouch, bloody hell, woman, what was that for?"

"For being annoyingly pessimistic," Hermione said primly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling, therefore, I do not own Harry Potter. **

Using the odd ability of being Heir's to the Founders, the lot set off through secret passage ways and, making various shortcuts and turns, avoided all life (and non-life) in the castle as they made their way to the Headmaster's office.

_Y'know,_ said Ron happily. _We'll never need the marauders map again if we want to get around unnoticed. I know where every single person is on Hogwarts ground. _He laughed suddenly. _Flitwick's in Madam Hooch's rooms. _He winked at Harry. _Any idea what's going on in there?_ He yelped again as Ginny smacked him, a look of horror prominent on her face. Neville choked, his face turning faintly green.

Beside them Hermione mused thoughtfully. _It's odd, I can tell where everyone is, but unless it's somebody I was familiar with back home, I don't know _who _they are. Just that they're there. _She tapped her chin in thought._ That could be useful. Ah. Here we are._ Speaking aloud, she said, "Hello, we're here to see Dumbledore." And she flashed her ring at the Gargoyle. Startled, the stone creature jumped out of the way and they each stepped on a step and allowed the moving staircase to carry them. Once at the top, Hermione shrugged and knocked on the door. There was a startled silence and then Dumbledore's old, familiar voice bade them come in.

_Guess Hogwarts usually tells him who's on the other side of the door, eh?_ Ron's thought was amused, but there was a tinge of sadness felt by all. They were, after all, about to meet a man they had known and loved and seen die.

Dumbledore was fully alert, though to the casual observer he seemed merely intent upon entertaining unexpected guests. He looked at them over his half-moon spectacles and with a wave of his wand he conjured six poufy chairs of varying shades of purple. They matched his robes. They viewed the chairs with no small amount of resignation and sat. Dumbledore folded his hands.

"Forgive me if I seem a bit forgetful, but I don't believe we've met." Dumbledore peered at them curiously, a shadow of recognition in his eyes as he looked closely at each of them. "Or have we?" He said, one silvery brow raised.

That same bell-tone sounded and the walls around them reverberated with the voice of Hogwarts saying, "Trust them, Albus. I brought them here. They are the only ones who can help." Her voice faded.

Dumbledore, for once, was truly startled. Looking at his unknown guests, he asked, "Well. Just who are you then?"

"Perhaps it would be better to start with something else, Professor," Dumbledore appeared momentarily intrigued by Hermione's obvious comfort in speaking to him. She smiled apologetically. "It's a bit difficult to explain."

"A bit difficult, she says." Ron muttered. "When it gets really difficult, I don't think I want to know."

Harry snorted. He stopped grinning though, when Hermione turned her glare on him. Luna spoke.

"Professor, as we all have rather heavy occlumency shields, I feel the best way to give you what you want to know, would be for me to do it. If you could just take my hand," Luna said, rising. She stood before the Headmaster with one delicate hand outstretched and a comforting smile on her face. With curiosity gleaming in his eyes, he took it, and the others watched, wide-eyed, as his eyes closed and his expression changed from puzzlement to horror to elation and finally, to wonder. He opened his eyes and sat back in his chair surveying them as Luna returned to her seat beside Neville. His eyes snapped to her and they were all relieved to see the familiar twinkle in his eyes.

"I must thank you, my Lady, for giving me such a gift. I had read in some ancient manuscripts rumors of your fabled talent, but to experience it first-hand was truly an honor." He smiled gently. "So, the real question is what to do with you." He stood up. "Forgive me, I do believe you, and Hogwarts obviously trusts you, but I would feel better about this if you would allow me to call a companion of mine in. I believe you've met him in your world. Fawkes!" At his call, there was a flash of fire and a magnificent golden and red phoenix arrived. Flying over them at Dumbledore's silent beckoning, he trilled a note of such beauty, that tears sprang to their eyes. Sighing, Dumbledore sat back down.

"And that is that," he said cheerfully. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Well, this is a pretty dilemma. We could address you by your new titles, but that would grow tiresome, and really, my boy," he said, addressing Harry directly. "It would grow quite tiresome calling you Lord Merlin, only for somebody to curse in the next breath. No, allow me to enlighten you on the events of this world and then we shall determine how best to call you." He was set to begin when somebody's stomach rumbled. "Not eaten, have we?" He snapped his fingers once, "Tibby!" There was a _pop!_ and a house elf dressed in a neat and tidy tea cozy appeared. Dumbledore smiled at the creature. "If you could have the kitchen send up a meal, Tibby, our guests are hungry."

Tibby smiled. "Of course, sir! We is happy to provide for any guest of Hogwarts!" The elf's squeaky voice was proud and he bowed on the spot before _pop_ping away. Moments later, a small table had appeared in front of the six other-worlders and soon it was full of food of the lunch variety.

_No wonder Ron's hungry_ came Neville's amused thought. _We missed breakfast and nearly lunch._ He snorted when Ron threw him a two fingered salute instead of replying. Once they had eaten more or less their fill, Dumbledore began.

"Your dear Lady Luna took it upon herself to explain to me the background of your world. It seems that the major source of difference between your world and my own, is that not only was Voldemort's power crippled by the revelation that he had a muggle father causing dissent within his ranks, but, it seems that this world's Lily and James Potter decided to postpone their wedding by a few months. Thus ensuring that Lily's parents were well protected before the ceremony, and, as such, they did not die in this world. Also, the postponement of the wedding was evidently enough of a change that Harry Potter was never conceived in this world. The eldest Potter child is Ms. Rosana Lily Potter born December 12th, 1980. She's followed by her siblings, the twins Edward Charlus and James Lucas Potter born March 7th, 1982, young Ms. Ivy Siria Potter born August 11th, 1985, and lastly, Alec Jonathan Potter, born February 22nd, 1987. Without the same preceding circumstances, the prophecy was never made in this world."

"I don't understand, Professor," Hermione said. "Why are we here if Voldemort isn't your problem?"

"Ah," said the Headmaster, twinkling at her. "But I believe he _is_ still a problem. Let me explain. When his followers began to break, Tom showed his true colors and ran, leaving the problem to his followers. The Order of the Phoenix has never truly disbanded in this world because the problems Voldemort's rise in power caused are by no means gone. Although it has been nearly two decades- eighteen years- wherever Tom has based himself, I am afraid he is merely using this time to grow stronger. Even now, a strange uprising of attacks has begun and I fear he may well be the cause once more. Only this time, he will be far less trusting of his servants." Dumbledore looked weary for a moment. "Furthermore, there is a political faction that continues to push for laws of the worst kind. And I fear that time is running short for those that are capable of opposing this faction." He peered at them over his glasses. "You ought to know him; it's Lucius Malfoy, scion of the Malfoy family.

Their faces registered their displeasure. Ron, for instance, seemed ready to burst a vein, and even Luna's face fell into grim lines.

"Yes, yes," Albus said, eyes moving from face to face. "I did rather think you'd have that sort of reaction. Well," he said, clapping briskly. "As to what to call you, I have an idea. It won't keep you completely out of the limelight, but if you could go by Ron Sly, Hermione Claw, Ginny Gryf, and Neville Huff, I rather think that most will simply accept that. There are some similarities between you and your counterparts, but there is a significant amount of difference, I believe. As for Harry and Luna," he said, turning to them. "We know that Harry never existed here, and Luna, I'm afraid, died in the accident that took her mother in your world. Therefore, though it may seem odd to have the both of them running around as themselves, there are no clones of them to cause problems. The Potter's may find it odd as well, but, as you wish to hopefully maintain a link to this world from your own, I rather feel that you may wish them to discover the truth eventually anyways. How does that sound?" He looked at them expectantly.

In turn, they all turned towards Harry, realizing that this decision would affect him the most. Harry ran his hand through his hair as he considered it.

"I think," he said slowly. "That that might be the best idea. Better not to completely lie on the offset, or they'll never trust us on our word. And if they accuse the others of lying we can prove that they aren't, they just wouldn't be using the whole names they have a right to use."

The others nodded. Hermione's mouth moved wordlessly around the shape of her new name and she frowned in concentration. Ron's mouth twisted in distaste.

"Sly? Ron _Sly_? The hell kind of name is that?" he asked belligerently. "It makes me sound like a horrible person!"

"Hey!" Neville said sharply. "It's better than Slytherin."

"What do you know, Neville? At least Huff is an actual last name."

"So is Sly!" Neville grinned, _sly_ly, "It just means you're a cunning individual. Rather fitting of Lord Slytherin, don't you think?"

"Well, I like my name." Ginny smiled. "Ginny Gryf. It's got a good ring to it, don't you think. Eh, Sly?" She winked at Harry. Ron just glared at her.

Dumbledore chuckled quietly. "Now," he said, calling their attention back to him. "I believe you also would prefer an excuse to stick around Hogwarts without immediately revealing everything about yourselves. I believe I have an idea. I noticed that none of you had a particularly productive year last year in the matter of academics." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I do believe that Hogwarts will attempt a trial run, so to speak, of offering classes for those who are past the age of schooling and need only a certain few NEWTs to go their own way. I can manage to, shall we say, replace your school scores, but if you would each pick a few classes, three would be good, and I can introduce you as part-time students. With this new program, you shall be given your own quarters and will be exempt from the point system. Any detentions must be run through me, and your free time is yours." He smiled at them. "Does that sound satisfactory?"

"Only three?" Hermione was somewhat distraught. The others burst out laughing.

"That sounds great, Professor," Harry assured him. "Hermione's just a bit obsessed. Somehow, I don't think being made the Heir of Ravenclaw particularly helped." He looked at Hermione. "Remember, we do have work to do here." She flushed.

"Of course," she muttered. "It's just, odd, being here again where it seems so familiar. It makes me forget for a bit." She looked at him. "I won't forget again," she promised. She chewed her lip. "Should we go to Gringotts tomorrow morning?"

Ginny nodded. "It's a little after three in the afternoon now, and, quite frankly, I'm rather anxious to explore a few of our inherited skills." She looked at them quizzically. "Room of Requirement?"

Dumbledore's brow rose. "Someday you'll have to explain that to me. As it is, I see you are all rather anxious, so I urge you to go and have a bit of fun. Remember to stay out of sight, and I will have all of the necessary paperwork filed by tomorrow morning." With a glance at his desk, he dismissed them. As they were leaving he called out. "If you get hungry, you may call on Tibby and he will ensure that you are well provided for." He smiled at them, quill poised to return to his work. They thanked him and left, avoiding everyone again on their way to the Room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Well. I need hardly tell you that I don't own Harry Potter, but I shall do so anyways. I do not own Harry Potter. There, I've said it.**

**I realize this fic seems to hold nobody's interest other than my own, but, eh, such is the case of things occasionally. I shall attempt to persevere anyways.**

The Room of Requirement was as useful as ever, but it held a special significance to the six friends now. In the memories and knowledge given to them by the founder's, they discovered that the Room was actually something of a Common Room for the Founders. For access to their personal rooms, they need only press their rings to the appropriate wall; North for Gryffindor, South for Slytherin, East for Hufflepuff, and West for Ravenclaw. Each included several rooms but the group decided that they would prefer to stay with the boys in Slytherin's quarters and the girls in Gryffindor's. Luckily, if given leave by the Heir, anyone was allowed in without a corresponding ring being necessary.

Even though the Room had been created more or less as a way to compromise between their varying tastes, the opportunities it offered were too good to dismiss. Harry, Ron, Neville and, somewhat surprisingly, Ginny, now had the abilities of a master swordsman (and woman…) where as Luna and Hermione were skilled in archery and the use of daggers. Rather than test their new knowledge where they could easily be observed, they used the Room.

Hermione, ever the pragmatist, established in Ravenclaw's rooms a new board of information, this one detailing not only their new abilities but the information they had learned. She then added a board that listed everything they intended to do.

Hermione tapped her wand thoughtfully against her chin as she studied the boards. "I think we should give some thought to pursuing our own animagus forms," she said. "After all, we know how the Founder's did it; it should be only a matter of discovering our forms." She frowned. "That's probably why Dumbledore never suspected Peter of treachery. To find an animagus form, one must master Occlumency that they may enter a deep meditative state and afterwards have the control necessary to make the change. Peter was, in essence, protected by the Marauders even as he betrayed them." Her mouth twisted in distaste before she shook her head to clear it of unwanted thoughts. "As we are already proficient Occlumens thanks to our new status as Heirs, we need only discover our forms. Also, with the memories and knowledge accorded us by the Founders, we already know _how_ to change once we find them." She glanced at them mischievously, a small smile dancing on her lips. "Who wants to give it a try?"

As one, and with a heady sense of excitement in the air, the six changed the room to a simple one of plain comfort, and sat down to attempt the exercise. Harry was particularly excited as the thought of becoming an animagus pulled achingly on his heart-strings, feeling that this, much like flying, drew him closer to his father, not to mention Sirius.

An hour later it was revealed that Luna was a mink suitable for land and water, Neville was apparently a sun bear, Ron a red panda, Hermione a snow leopard, Ginny an Asiatic golden cat, and Harry a so-called "gray" wolf.

Knowing the process already, they decided to try the change. It came as no particular surprise when half an hour later there was a verifiable zoo in the Founders' common room.

After they each spent about fifteen minutes getting used to their new bodies, Ron changed back and suggested that they do the same. Within moments the group sat in their natural bodies, looking at Ron.

"I think it'd be a good idea if we changed individually so that we can get a good look at each other." Ron said. "That way we can get used to each other as animals, whether or not we're in animal form, too."

Ginny smirked suddenly. "Remembering that time Gryffindor snuck up on Slytherin without him knowing, eh?" Ron flushed.

"Well, yeah," he said. He added defensively, "That doesn't mean it can't be a good idea, though."

Ginny laughed. "No, no it doesn't." With that, she turned into a large predatory cat about four feet long with reddish fur, a white underbelly, and distinctive white and black lines on her face.

After Ginny came Luna, lithe and pure white, quick and agile. Neville showed off his form as four and a half foot bear, black and with a unique light orange "u" on his chest that matched the orange of his snout. Ron's animal was different. Legs, and underbelly black, the rest of his body was reddish-orange, save for some white markings on his face and ears and white stripes along the tail, also about four feet in length.

Hermione burst out laughing. She had brought out a book that identified each of their animals and included details on them. Hermione had already discovered her own form in the book. She handed the book to Harry and changed.

Almost immediately, Ron froze in instinctual terror. Hermione stretched languidly, even without her tail out, nearly four feet long. Her fur, a smoky gray with white on her belly and spots of black covering her body, was long and thick.

"The snow leopard is one of the main predators of the red panda," Harry read. "Huh, looks like she was going to get you eventually, eh, mate?" He chuckled, turning the page. "Hey, 'Mione! It says here that snow leopards can't roar. Looks like you're a big cat with a tiny voice." She hissed at him, flexing dangerous claws. "Yeah, yeah," he said absently. "Sink your claws into Ron, would you?"

Shaking, Ron transformed back quickly. "Don't _say_ that, mate!" The red head was unusually pale. "We're still new with this animal stuff. She just might _do _it!" His voice rose with a terrified squeak.

Hermione turned back with a huff. "Oh, _really_, Ronald." She looked at him scornfully. "As if I would allow my baser instincts to-"

Out of nowhere a mouse-like creature ran past and she tensed, eyes following it intently until it ended at Ron's feet.

"Really?" He drawled sardonically, picking up the conjured mouse. He waved it around. "Because you seem unusually intrigued by this fake mouse I made." With a puff, he got rid of it, rubbing his hands briskly together. Hermione blushed as she realized what had happened. "No," he continued. "_You_ can just stay away from me in your animagus form until we get this sorted out."

Looking chagrined, Hermione moved towards him, arms outstretched. Almost immediately, Ron shied away. A look of amusement crossed Hermione's face. She moved towards him again. Ron darted away. She did it again. Almost panicked, Ron tripped over a cushion on the floor and stumbled to his feet again.

"No!" He cried out. "Stay away from me you, you- Mad woman!" With a startled cry, he felt her arms enclose him. Part of him gibbered in terror but, soon, the rest of him realized that he was okay. This was the woman he loved. Not some terrifying beast intent on devouring him. He hoped.

The others, it should be noted, _did_ try not to laugh, but the sight of tall, built Ron running shy from slim, feminine Hermione was just too hilarious to resist. It took the better part of ten minutes for them to calm down.

Harry handed the book back to Hermione and changed. His form was that of a pure black wolf, his eyes a startling green that the rest were sure was not natural upon such an animal. He had an almost unnoticeable tuft of gray hair on his forehead and he was a bold five feet in length. He sniffed them each in turn, identifying their scents. Satisfied, he turned back.

Hearing Ron's growling stomach, Harry spoke. "Well, we've practiced our weaponry and we've managed to become animagi in less than a day. I say we eat!"

They called on Tibby and he brought them a miniature feast. As they ate, they discussed their plans for the next day. They decided that they would go to Gringotts and access their vaults and then go shopping, the simple reason being that they had nothing but their wands and whatever possessions they'd been carrying, and the other being that for some, like Harry, shopping was something of a necessity anyways.

After eating their fill, the stress and excitement of speaking to Dumbledore and then becoming animagi overcame them, and they shuffled off to Slytherin and Gryffindor, saying goodnight to one another. Luckily, all of the private quarters included several bedrooms with connecting bathrooms as well as a communal kitchen. They all chose a room randomly and fell into bed, sound asleep before their heads finished touching their pillows.

**Now, if you're reading this... if this story has struck your fancy at all, I'd appreciate a note detailing why, or even a note saying _why not_. Or, you know, don't. It's all cool.**

**Like I said. I'd appreciate it, but I'm not demanding it. ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: As always, I continue to own nothing. Not Harry Potter, not even my car.**

**This has proven to be the only thing that could distract me from my grief today. I lost a beloved Aunt this morning, the third loss my family has suffered this past month and the fourth this year, and the writing of this chapter proved a useful activity to save me from dwelling on my pain. If the story sucks as a result, I can only apologize, but it remains dear to me for keeping me sane. I hope your year has been a much better one than mine and if not, then I pray that it gets better.**

_Telepathy_

The next day dawned bright and early and as they had slept in conjured pajamas, they were relieved to discover that Tibby had washed their clothes. They were eating the breakfast Tibby provided when he _pop_ped back with a note from the Headmaster.

"Thank you very much, Tibby," Harry said, taking the note. He opened it and scanned it. "It seems the Headmaster has managed to secure our scores," here he grinned, "and he's added us to the classes we wished to take. I and Ron will be taking Defense with Slytherin and Gryffindor, Neville, Ginny, Luna and Hermione with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Ron, Neville and I are taking Potions together, with the Slytherins and Gryffindors. Hmm, that should prove interesting. Hermione, you're taking Arithmancy with the Ravenclaws and," here he looked at her in disbelief. "_History of Magic_ with the Gryffindors. Hermione, that class is a snooze fest. Why?" He shook his head. "Never mind, I don't really want to know. Neville and Luna are taking Herbology with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, Ginny's taking transfiguration with Gryffindor and Luna's got Astronomy with the Ravenclaws. Ron, Ginny and I are taking Charms with Slytherin." He handed the letter to Hermione and separated the lists of books for everyone. "We should probably add this to the Board. Do you mind?" Harry asked her. She shook her head and waved her wand in an intricate manner that left her, at least, satisfied. She rolled the parchment up and it disappeared.

"There," she said. "That ought to do it."

"And if it doesn't?" Ron asked, interested.

She pointed at her head. "Heir of Ravenclaw, remember?" She said wryly.

"Well," said Harry briskly, "if that's everything, I say it's time to take a trip." Normally, to leave Hogwarts, one would need do so either by more mundane means, such as walking, or floo or have access to a portkey. As the various heirs of the Founders, though, they actually _did_ have the ability to apparate in and out of Hogwarts grounds. Luckily, as Voldemort had no ring marking him as Slytherin's heir, he was denied this access.

They apparated to the hidden entrance of Diagon Alley, and tapped the appropriate brick. The streets were bustling, full of back to Hogwarts shoppers. They found Gringotts, the poem warning against thieves rather ironic to the other worlders.

Stepping out of the sunlight and into the bank, Harry walked to the nearest goblin and asked to see their vaults.

The goblin looked at him over glinting spectacles. "Names?" he sneered.

Rather than answer him, Harry extended his arm and showed the goblin his rings. The goblin's eyes widened before narrowing.

"Come with me," he said, his expression still not pleasant. After all, what goblin's is?

They followed him to the carts, where he turned to them and examined each of their rings.

He grinned with horrible amusement. "I'll have you four go with Lugnik," he said to the Founders' Heirs. Turning to Harry and Luna, he said, "I'll take you two to your vaults." He ushered them into the first cart, another goblin, presumably Lugnik, did the same with the others and a different cart.

The ride was a long and heart-stopping one, but for Harry, who had, after all, ridden a dragon out of these self-same halls, it was merely entertaining. They came to a stop at what looked to be the oldest vaults ever. The goblin gestured them forward.

"Be warned," he said, smiling unpleasantly. "If you or your friends have somehow devised clever little imitations- well, we'll see shall we?" With a nasty smirk, he beckoned Harry forward.

Calmly, Harry placed his hand upon the door, smiling when it's magic washed over him, accepting and welcoming him. The goblin grunted with disappointment.

He walked a little ways and called out, "Girl! You're vault is here."

Harry entered his vault. It had gold, yes, but, more importantly; it held the last possessions of Merlin. A staff that shrunk at Harry's touch and sword that Harry dared not pick up. He really figured that that, at least, should be returned to Luna's vault. It was, after all, hers to give. There were also many books he deemed best left in the vault for safety and one or two dozen various trinkets that he wished to look more into Merlin's memories before bothering. In the end, he had, in a wallet spelled in the same manner as Hermione's beaded purse, a goodly amount of money to spend and the staff that was his right as Heir. He turned and found Luna waiting just outside his door, and he called her in.

"There," he said, pointing to Excalibur, "I believe that is by all rights yours." He looked at her. "I give it back to you, my Lady," he said with a dramatic flourish.

Luna laughed. "Ah, Harry. Excalibur is no one's to give. Think on it a bit, and you will remember why your vault is here. It was the first vault of Gringotts; not because Gringotts created it, but because Gringotts, was created around it."

Harry looked at her sharply, and glanced once more at his vault. Memories faded in and out as he struggled to remember the pertinent parts of Merlin's past. There, he could see it. This was the cave Merlin retired to, and it was here that Excalibur found its final resting place. It jutted out of the cave floor, stuck in as though as easily as butter.

_I think, Harry, _Luna said in his mind, _that you should try your hand at pulling Excalibur from its place. I have memories of creating it but it has its own spirit. It will go only to the pure at heart. And you, my friend, are purer than most people know._

Uncertain, Harry stepped forward until he was in front of the sword. Glancing over his shoulder at Luna's encouraging smile, he leaned in and grasped the hilt.

The light given off by the goblin's lamps palled in the eerily luminescent glow given off by Excalibur. Harry was sure that he felt warmth and strength flow through his body, and, with a strangely easy heft, he pulled the mighty sword from its stone bed. The light that reflected from it resembled that of light shimmering off a pool of water. The sword itself had the look of moonlight to it, and the hilt was made of the same material that Luna's ring was.

"I found this in my vault," Luna said, lifting a scabbard of pure white leather. "I assume that the Lady made it sometime after Excalibur was given away, but it's your now." She handed it to him.

Harry took it, overawed at the gift. He placed the sword to beat all swords in the scabbard and attached it to his side. With a momentary thought, he created a place to slip his shrunken staff and slipped that in as well. As though reading his will, the scabbard vanished from sight, and Harry smiled, taking comfort in having so great a protection so close at hand.

"Shall we, my Lady?" he asked charmingly. Luna laughed and took his extended arm and they made their way to the waiting goblin.

Along the trip back, Harry spoke to the cantankerous goblin.

"It occurs to me that we don't know your name," he said. The goblin looked back at him, sneering still but with an edge of confusion. "I realize that wizards and goblins have had little love for one another in the past, but I, for one, prefer to be on somewhat amicable terms with those that so valiantly defend my possessions. I shall give you my name, if you wish. I was born Harry James Potter."

"And I, Luna Alia Lovegood." Luna said unexpectedly. She turned her large eyes to the goblin.

The goblin looked vaguely disconcerted as the cart came to a halt. As they got out, the goblin said, "Signuk." He looked mildly confused. "My name is Signuk."

"Thank you, Signuk," Luna said in surprisingly perfect Gobbledegook. "And may your halls be ever flowing with gold and your heart overcome with valor."

Harry and Luna left the startled goblin and made their way to where they saw the others standing at the entrance.

"Did I know I knew how to understand Gobbledegook?" Harry asked.

"No more than I knew that I could speak it," Luna replied. They looked at each other and laughed.

The group decided to stop by Madam Malkin's to acquire some everyday robes. They weren't required to wear Hogwarts robes, so they each went for their own favorites. They each bought a few regular black robes, but Ginny bought a few in a deep red and Hermione and Luna bought varying shades of blue. Harry threw in some dark greens and one dark gray, and Neville decided that he preferred a dark brown and a few blues as well. Ron seemed happy to take anything so long as it wasn't maroon.

They decided to head out into muggle London for a bit, and visited some of the stores there where they stocked up on regular clothes of jeans and shirts and various other items of necessity.

Shrinking their clothing, they made their way back to Madam Malkin's to pick up their finished robes and then shrunk their parcels. They each had a wallet or purse similar to Hermione's now, so their purchases made their way into those.

They picked up the items on their lists, books and ingredients and such things before they headed off to more interesting purchases. Harry discovered an owl that very well could have been a descendent of Hedwig, snowy with black tips, and couldn't resist. He walked away with the male owl he named Aesolan, after the first recorded animagus.

"We're staying at Hogwarts," Harry told Aesolan, "think you can meet us there?" Aesolan regarded him with haughty eyes and, after an owl treat from Harry, took to the sky.

None of the quidditch players could resist the newest broom. Apparently, in a world that had not been so radically plagued by Lord Voldemort in recent years, despite the continuing tension due to his uncertain disappearance, the art of flying had reached greater heights in this world resulting in a broom by the name of Thunderbolt 3000, the latest by the company that had produced the Firebolt.

Leaving the wizards of Quality Quidditch Supplies shocked into silence by the transaction, they decided they would end the trip at Ollivander's, thinking it would be best to have an extra wand around.

Ollivander's was as creepy as Harry remembered it. As creepy as the visit was, obtaining new wands was exciting. Luna received an eleven and three quarters inch white birch wand, the core containing two unicorn hair strands. Neville's wand turned out to be thirteen inches and made of aspen, with a dragon heartstring core. Ron's second wand was made of fir, twelve and a quarter inches with a unicorn hair core. Hermione's wand was a ten inch chestnut, with unicorn hair as its core. Ginny's proved to be made of hickory, twelve and a half inches with phoenix feather at its core. It was when the time came to choose Harry's wand that things grew truly interesting again.

Ollivander, growing ever more excited as the hunt went on, was in the back of the shop, when a small group of people came in.

A tall man with untidy black hair swept in with a young boy of eleven with equally untidy black hair and a girl of twelve or thirteen whose thick black hair had distinct touches of red in it. They were accompanied by a man with long black hair pulled back into a pony tail.

As they entered the shop, Ollivander came back from the back, carrying a long slender box of ebony. So intent upon his fickle customer, he did not immediately notice the newcomers.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Ollivander said, opening the box and extending it to Harry. "Give it a wave, and let's see if we've finally placed you."

Very much aware of the now intent and puzzled gazes of people that he might have every right to call family, Harry reached out to lift the wand from its case.

Incandescent sparks of every color shot out of the wand as he raised it, and Ollivander's smile widened.

"Yes, yes," he murmured, "curious indeed."

The déjà-vu feeling coming to him tenfold, Harry could not stop himself.

"Excuse me," he said. "But curious how?"

Ollivander looked at him. "That phoenix, gave only one other feather. I debated for some time before using the second feather; whether or not to use holly or rowan wood. As the first wand was taken by the man who fashioned himself as Lord Voldemort, "Flight of Death", I decided to create the second wand using a wood that is used to discourage haunting and guard against lightning."

Harry grew slightly uncomfortable with the attention he was now getting.

"But how is this curious?" he asked.

"Curious, Mr. Potter," Ollivander said, "because I know who you are."

Somewhere behind him, he heard a strangled cough that he somehow knew was Ron.

"Ah, is that so?" Harry said nervously. "Well, that's interesting and all, but we're on a timeline-" He avoided his alter-father's gaze and handed Ollivander the correct amount of change. "Maybe we should get together and have tea sometime. With Dumbledore maybe. Anyways, gotta go, been fun chatting and er- whatnot. Sell lots of wands and have a great day!"

With that the six stumbled into the street and apparated back to their rooms in Hogwarts.

**I've forgotten what I was going to say... um, something about "Alia" being completely made-up... erm, I don't know, except to say that I did have reasons for choosing the wood that I did for their wands. Perhaps rather vague reasons, but reasons just the same. :)**


	6. Chapter 6: Story Information

**Sorry, (if you care) not another chapter, but details that I thought ought to be laid out in a more practical manner. Most of this would be essentially what Hermione has on the Board of Information, but some of it, like the descriptions of the Potter family, are extraneous info I thought might be useful. After all, if _I'm_ getting confused on all my details and I'm the one _writing_ it, I can only shudder to think how y'all feel. The rules mention not posting Author Notes as separate chapters, but, as this pertains to the story itself, I'm uncertain as to whether or not this is not allowed. If you know it is or isn't, I'd appreciate a note telling me. I can always take it down. ;)**

**Heir Order:**

Harry- Merlin/Slytherin/Gryffindor

Ron- Slytherin/Gryffindor Alias: Ron Sly

Hermione- Ravenclaw/Gryffindor Alias: Hermione Claw

Neville- Hufflepuff/Gryffindor Alias: Neville Huff

Ginny- Gryffindor/Slytherin/Hufflepuff Alias: Ginny Gryf

Luna "Alia" Lovegood- Lady of the Lake/Ravenclaw

**Animagus Forms:**

Harry- Pitch black wolf

Ron- Red Panda

Hermione- Snow Leopard

Neville- Sun Bear

Ginny- Asiatic Golden Cat

Luna- White Mink

**Wands:**

Harry- Rowan, 14 inches, phoenix feather

Ron- Fir, 12 ¼ inches, unicorn hair (tail)

Hermione- Chestnut, 10 inches, unicorn hair (mane)

Neville- Aspen, 13 inches, dragon heartstring

Ginny- Hickory, 12 ½ inches, phoenix feather

Luna- White Birch, 11 ¾ inches, twin unicorn hair

**Classes:**

Harry- Defense and Potions with Slytherin/Gryffindor, and Charms with Slytherin

Ron- Defense and Potions with Slytherin/Gryffindor, and Charms with Slytherin

Hermione- Defense with Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff, Arithmancy with Ravenclaws, and History of Magic with Gryffindor

Neville- Defense with Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff, Potions with Slytherin/Gryffindor, and Herbology with Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff

Ginny- Defense with Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff, Transfiguration with Gryffindor, and Charms with Slytherin

Luna- Defense with Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff, Herbology with Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff, and Astronomy with Ravenclaw

**Potter OCs:**

Rosana Lily Potter- Dec. 12th, 1980 Gryffindor, 7th year

Dark red hair, hazel eyes; glasses

Edward Charlus Potter- March 7th, 1982 Gryffindor, 5th year

Dark brown hair, green eyes

James Lucas Potter- March 7th, 1982 Gryffindor, 5th year

Dark brown hair, hazel eyes; glasses

Ivy Siria Potter- August 11th, 1985 Ravenclaw, 3rd year

Black hair, red highlights, green eyes

Alec Jonathon Potter- February 22nd, 1987 Hufflepuff, 1st year

Black hair, hazel eyes

**Classes/Teachers:**

Charms: Flitwick years 1-5; Lily Potter years 6-7

Transfiguration: McGonagall years 1-3; James Potter years 4-6; Sirius Black year 7

Potions: Lily Potter years 1-3; Severus Snape years 4-7

Defense: Remus Lupin year 1 and year 7; Sirius Black years 2-7; James Potter years 6-7

Herbology: Syrina Snape years 1-4; Sprout years 5-7

History: Syrina Snape years 1-3; Remus Lupin years 4-7

Care of Magical Creatures: Hagrid years 1-7

Hospital Wing: Madam Pompfrey, Assistants- Lily Potter, Syrina Snape

Quidditch: Madam Hooch as Referee, Assistant- James Potter

_The rest follow as per usual. At least as far as I'm concerned. Heads of Houses remain the same and McGonagall is Deputy Headmistress._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: There is still no owning involved in the making of these sad little stories, but should they bring a smile to your lips or a joy to your heart, then I count myself well-profited.**

**Soo... I've actually had this written for a couple of days, but I decided tonight that, despite not going quite where I wished to end up, it was a satisfactory enough end for the chapter. I hope it doesn't come off as an uncompleted thought... if it does I truly apologize. Hopefully, next time will include the scene that I _wanted_ to get to, but I kinda like what I've got here, for the time being.**

With a pounding heart, Harry slid down the wall of the Room. Nearby, Ron groaned and toppled over on a couch from the back end and Hermione and Ginny fanned themselves breathlessly. Even Neville had taken the chance to slump in an empty armchair. Only Luna remained outwardly unperturbed though her eyes were rather wider than even hers were wont.

"Well," said Luna finally, blinking a few times. "I do believe we've met some of the Potter clan."

Harry groaned. He had been shunting the inevitability of any such meeting from his mind, and thus, his emotions, but now, confronted when he least expected it- well, it bloody well hit him, didn't it? Like a whole damn ton of bricks. He supposed he should be glad that it didn't hit him metaphorically in the bollocks. Not that being metaphorically squished by bricks was terribly exciting, either.

"I have a sister," he said, sounding a bit dazed and not a little incredulous. He looked up at them. "I have a _brother_."

There was the sound of a growl and Ron's head popped up from the couch.

"Screw that," he said. "You have a bloody father."

Ginny grabbed a cushion and thwacked him in the face with it, eliciting an _umph_ and curse from him.

Ron glared at his sister. She glared back. "What the hell was that for?" he asked indignantly. This time, it was Hermione who whacked him with a cushion. He fell back with a startled cry.

"Because. You. Have. No. Bloody. TACT!" With each word, Hermione punctuated it with a healthy swing of the cushion, resulting in a thump from Ron hitting the floor whilst fleeing the Pillow of Feathery Doom and a verifiable blizzard of said doomish feathers. **(Doomish, apparently, is not a word. Who knew?)**

Harry stared at his long-time friends. He couldn't help it. He began to laugh.

Hermione turned to him indignantly, but the sight of her holding a wilted cushion and feathers flying everywhere only increased his laughter. Her mouth twitched. Then Luna's laughter was heard pealing over his and she could be seen with Neville trying to pluck some of the pricklier of feathers from Ron. Her efforts were somewhat hampered by the fact that she kept laughing and Neville was openly grinning. The only one not amused was Ron, and a considerable amount of that had to do with the fact that Ginny seemed to be eyeing both him and her cushion with a certain speculative gleam. He finally looked at Harry, and let a sort of resigned amusement overtake him.

"Guess I deserved that." he said. "Sort of, anyways," he amended, narrowing his eyes at Hermione who had the grace to drop her unstuffed cushion sheepishly and hug him.

Heart considerably lightened by his friends' antics, Harry cleared his throat. With a wave of his new Rowan wand, Harry cleared the feathers from the room and vanished the emptied cushion.

"Erm," he said, scratching his head. "Put things away?"

Immediately the girls' eyes lit up. Well. Hermione and Ginny's did. So did Ron's, for that matter… In any case they were soon in their rooms arranging their clothing into the closets and placing their school things in appropriate places.

"So," Ron said, hovering in the doorway. "Parents."

Harry looked at him from where he had been arranging his clothing by type, pants with pants and so on. Never having had so many clothes before, he figured he would make an organized start of it and then go from there. Of course, he was reasonably certain that Hermione was suppressing the urge to sort by color, type, _and_ outfit. Actually… he sent that fleeting thought to Ron.

_Hermione_, he said in a singsong voice, including Ron in the mental conversation. Ron grinned at him.

_Hermione_, Ron said, voice slightly critical, _do you really suppose that that blouse goes with that skirt?_

Harry resisted the urge to snort. _Hermione, my dear friend, don't you suppose that having so much blue in one outfit may raise the question on whether or not you were reared by smurfs?_

Ron squinched his face in an effort not to laugh. _You know, I really don't know why you didn't include any yellow in your wardrobe. Are you the dreary sort of intellectual, Hermione? Where's the sunshine in your library paradise?_

-Library paradise?- Harry mouthed at Ron. Ron shrugged back.

_Oh, ha ha,_ came Hermione's acerbic retort._ So very amusing, whatever shall I do now? _A mental raspberry blew through their thoughts. They felt a sharp twist. _And don't come peeking through my eyes unless it's an emergency or you know I'm decent. Imagine how you'd feel if it were Ginny, Ron…_

With Ron's face contorted in a grimace of distaste, the boys allowed the connection to drop.

"So," Harry said, mimicking Ron's earlier greeting. "Parents." With a sigh he fell back on his four poster bed and gazed out the window.

A dip towards the end of the bed told him that Ron was sitting on the bed, most likely leaning against one of the posts.

Harry turned until his feet rested on the proper end of things and his head was raised on propped arms and pillows behind his head. He kept his gaze on the window though. Ron took his silence as an opportunity to continue.

"I know it must be weird. Probably you don't know what to think. They aren't your parents, they _are _your parents… what are you supposed to feel in a situation like this?" Harry glanced at Ron, a little surprised at the level of maturity his friend was showing towards the matter.

Ron saw the glance and smiled wryly.

"Tactless, not stupid," he reminded Harry. "And as large as the Potter family is here, I reckon I've a better sense of how things are like with them. The presence of Sirius suggests that he, and probably Lupin as well, are still very much a part of Potter life." Ron looked reflective. "So most likely, for all that they've more money than my family ever had, they're probably not lacking in love, they'll be comfortable with each other to the point that they know each other's reactions before it happens. Knowing what we've heard of your mum, and for all that she seems to have been the polar opposite of your aunt, she likely provided a stabilizing force against your father's first instinct to outright spoiling. Not that Sirius would have been much help on that point, so hopefully Lupin managed on that end. Wonder if either of them married and had children," Ron said, rubbing his chin. "Think we should maneuver Tonks and Lupin into meeting if they haven't? Don't know what kind of bird Sirius'd go after. Probably not the settling kind though."

Harry lay in a bemused state. From the possibility of interacting with a large and happy Potter family to the prospect of setting up both his godson's parents and trying to tie down his alter-godfather with matrimonial bonds… it was all a little overwhelming, but laying there with Ron calmly talking over the varying possibilities, and Ron being the Chess-Master he was, there were many, but he felt ready to handle them as they came to him.

Half an hour passed as Ron verbally explored the possibilities and Harry no longer felt anxious at the prospect of meeting people that were virtually identical to the family he never should have lost. Of course, he knew they were not his own. His parents, his Moony and Padfoot, they were waiting for him wherever the dead settled for such things. He was finally content to wait for that meeting, but here, at this time, he did not think they would mind him getting to know their counter-parts, themselves in all but one crucial choice.

Presently, Harry sat up. His loyal friend had not moved in the time he sat talking even to put a cushion between him and the bedpost. Ron looked at him carefully.

"You going to be alright then?" he asked.

Harry smiled. "Yeah, thanks mate."

Ron chuckled. "Thanks not necessary." He winked conspiratorially at Harry. "Next time Hermione starts reaming me about being totally oblivious though, maybe shock her into silence for me."

Harry laughed. "Want to head back down?" He asked, standing up.

"Yeah, Hermione just gave me the all clear signal that I could talk to her again." He rose and stretched his back with a few pops. "Guess that means they're done cooing over their clothes and all."

Harry laughed. They popped into Neville's room to find him waking up from a nap and the three made their way downstairs. The girls were stepping out into the Room just as they did.

Ginny made her way to Harry. Placing her arms around him, she looked at him.

_Everything alright then?_ She asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah," he said, answering her aloud. "I'm doing just fine." She smiled at him and kissed him softly.

"I'm glad," she whispered, eyes twinkling at him.

**So, I'm basically writing scene-to-scene somewhat. Somehow, it's just easier that way. Hope that doesn't bother anybody. And without further _adieu_, I bid thee a good night/day :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMOR: Harry Potter does not belong to me. Sadness.**

Throughout the week they had free before September 1st dawned, the six friends spent much of that time in the Library and the Daily Prophet archives, learning everything they could about the world they had to help. Hermione and Luna had taken to assigning a board on Voldemort, a board on the world's differences in general, and a board regarding their plans. Thus far, the World Board held the most information.

"So, we want to isolate whether or not Voldemort ever created horcruxes in this world. If we can manage that, then we may well have a solid plan of action." Ron said, studying the boards.

"Alright," Harry said, clasping his hands together and pacing the floor. "We know that Voldemort hid the ring at the Gaunt house in our world, and we finally managed to discover that the Riddles "mysteriously" died here as well, so we should attempt to discover if the same horcrux has been hidden in this world. Because if it has-"

"-then it stands to reason that at least a few of the others have made here, as well!" Hermione's face glowed.

"Wait a minute!" Ron exclaimed. "If all we want to do is verify the existence of the horcruxes, then, mate, all we need is to change this to the Room of Lost Things!"

Harry smacked himself on the forehead.

"Of course!" he said, berating himself mentally. "We should have done that to begin with."

Making a concerted effort, they changed their common room to the seemingly endless room of discarded and lost items. Seeing the overwhelming clutter, they looked at each other.

_Search parties?_ Neville suggested dubiously.

_I think that's probably best._ Hermione said, sighing slightly.

_I would suggest that Hermione call it to her as the Heir of Ravenclaw_ Luna said_ but I fear the effect that a Horcrux might have on such an object._

They split into pairs, Luna and Ginny in one direction, Hermione and Neville in another, and Ron and Harry made their way to the point where Harry vaguely remembered finding it in _their_ world. As before, it seemed to take longer to find the same points of reference, almost as though the room shuffled different groups of the mess so that it was very much a trial to find something.

_If it was this difficult for Malfoy to find the same bloody cabinet each time, then I don't wonder that he fairly went mad _said Ron sourly.

Harry grunted, his eyes narrowing into the distance. He grabbed Ron.

"Say, doesn't that look like the cabinet?" He pointed about thirty feet ahead.

"Yeah!" Ron exclaimed. "It does."

They took off carefully sprinting. Once they reached it, they were able to see the diadem on its stand and they called the others to them.

They stood there staring at it for a bit. Finally, Neville used a piece of discarded cloth and gingerly lifted the diadem down.

Luna stared at it intensely. She nodded once.

_Harry, I think it is time for you to use one of your gifts_ she said, turning luminous eyes on him.

Feeling more than a little self-conscience, Harry pulled Excalibur from its invisible sheath. It's said that in the presence of evil, Excalibur's might will glow. Harry shook his head. Where had that thought come from? Then he realized.

"Hermione!" Harry's voice was indignant. As she seemed totally unrepentant, he settled for glaring at her.

"Well," she said practically. "It _is_ glowing."

As indeed it was. Sticking his tongue out at her briefly, Harry turned resolutely to his task. He raised Excalibur for the first time with intent, and he lowered it with a mighty heave, cleaving the innocuous trinket that housed the most evil of serpents-

"Her_mione_." He fairly growled. "Would you _please_ practice your mind-gifts elsewhere and not narrate my life?"

She giggled. "Fine," she said. "But only because you've destroyed the horcrux now. After all," she said mischievously, "how interesting can your life be anyways?" She winked.

"Oh," Ron said sardonically, "not very interesting at all, really."

Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly and turned to Luna.

"I've got the feeling of the horcrux in my mind, and I definitely sensed that it was a smaller piece of a much larger whole. I should also be able to tell when another such is in the vicinity." She smiled slightly and looked him directly in the eyes.

A sharp, shooting lance of fiery pain ignited in his head. Harry dropped to his knees, unable to withstand the surprise assault.

"Agh! The hell? Wazzat for?" He looked up blearily to see Luna had dropped to one knee beside him.

"I gave you the same feeling that I have," she said gently. "I could only do it with you because it is something only Merlin's Heir is capable of sharing with the Lady of the Lake. This way, we double our chances of finding the horcruxes if they prove to be in differing locations from our world."

"Hey!" Neville said suddenly. "Didn't you guys say that Dumbledore found a horcrux near the Riddle Mansion?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, and isn't that where Voldy-moldy made his hidey-hole for a time?"

Tapping her wand thoughtfully (and possibly dangerously…) against her chin, Hermione considered everything. With a flourishing wave of her wand, she created a new board and overlaid this one with their map of Wizarding Britain. After referencing a muggle map as well, she used the map's zooming abilities to enhance the area of Little Hangleton. **(Magical maps greatly resemble Google Maps apparently...)**

"Hmm… So, if we can ascertain whether or not Riddle is using his father's home as a hideaway, then we can determine from there whether or not the ring is in the same place. I don't think it would be such a good idea to go barging into the Gaunt house just to alert old Snakeface if he's there."

Ron closed his eyes and sighed suddenly.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"I just realized. This is going to be more difficult than we had thought."

"How so?" asked Ginny.

Pulling his hair in frustration, Ron said, "Well, the ring and the diadem were hidden early so it's reasonable to say they're in the same locations, but the locket was stolen by R.A.B.; I suppose we'd better ensure he did the same here- luckily, all we need is to get Luna or Harry in that cave and nobody has to drink the potion 'cause they can sense the horcruxes. But that's probably the only bit of luck we've got. If it's not there, then we need to find number 12 Grimmauld Place, hope the locket's still there and hope that nobody catches us. Then, we have to figure out how to get the cup from the Lestrange vault- I'd rather not leave on a dragon again if we can help it- and we also need to figure out how to break into the Malfoy's mansion, find the damn diary and leave, all without being caught. And all of that is supposing that Tom hasn't created more horcruxes, though I'd assume any snake that he seems especially fond of is a viable option."

They all groaned. Of course, they had realized it wouldn't be simple, but the fact that they had done it once had seemed to make the prospect of doing it again not so difficult. But they now realized differently.

Harry set his jaw determinedly.

"We'll just have to go about them one by one then," he said grimly, "and we'll have to take all the precautions we can to remain unknown to our enemy-and even to potential allies. After all, I trust all of you, but I don't necessarily trust everyone else here and besides, not everyone we meet has the mental shields necessary." He thumped one hand on the table. "No, we trust no one unless Hogwart's herself speaks for them and we keep everything as secret as possible concerning our mission." He looked them each in the eyes. "Then, maybe, we can tell people who we really are. But not before, not if we can help it."

**A/N: So, still not at the scene I've envisioned, but this story is determined to meander at its own pace so... :) In any case, my "special" scene probably won't be as epic as I've imagined, but that, I suppose, is life. **

**A huge thanks to everyone that has favorited, alerted, whatevered! Special thanks to MiahTech and "Eh Name What's That" for reviewing, I meant to do so the last chapter but failed to. Also, just a note of preference, if you dislike or are left unsatisfied by this story (or even just a chapter of it) and feel you must comment upon the fact, please make it constructive. "i'm gonna hurl" gives me absolutely nothing to work with, thanks all the same :) Hope life's treating you well!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Still not owning Harry Potter. ;)**

**Thank you to those who placed this story on their alert or whatever :) It makes me happy.**

Since deciding to make their plans one at a time and to do so deliberately to avoid costly mistakes, they decided that their first order of business would have to be discovering whether or not Little Hangleton was relatively snake-free. That said, they had to wait, because school was starting.

"You know," said Ginny wryly, "this might be a more difficult wait than it was first year. And we're not even trying on the blasted Hat!"

"Ahem." They all jumped as Dumbledore appeared quietly without notice. "Forgive me, Miss Weasley- though I suppose it should be Gryf, should it not? I'm sorry. Miss Gryf. I couldn't help overhearing, if I may be so nosy," his eyes twinkled in the way that only his could, "but save for a brief introduction, I do believe you should be quite alright."

"Of course, Professor," she said, rather subdued. "But where shall we sit?" she wailed suddenly.

"Ah! Of course." Professor Dumbledore clapped his hands. "I quite neglected to tell you, did I not? Yes, well, you shall of course, be taking your meals with the head table. Of course, you attendance is only mandatory for breakfast and feasts, all other mealtimes are your own to consider. You are, of course, more than welcome to take them with us, or, save for those few times, you can seat yourselves at any of the House tables, provided that somebody invites you there. At least, until circumstances are such as you can reveal yourselves." He winked at them. They viewed him, rather awestruck.

Ron covered his face with one hand.

"You mean to say," he said slowly. "That I have to sit, everyday, at least once, in close proximity to McGonagall?"

Neville's face filled with a slowly dawning horror.

"Snape?" He asked, apparently hopeful of a new change he had not thought to check.

Dumbledore was unhelpfully amused.

"Yes," he said calmly, "I do happen have faculty by those names on this staff. You might be surprised." He looked at the odd watch (even for a wizard) that adorned his wrist and exclaimed at the time. "Now, I must be off, but I must express my surprise that of all the research you have done, you did not once consider who might have changed among the Hogwarts staff." With a grandfatherly wave, he left.

"Oh," he called as an afterthought, "if you would be so kind as to remain unnoticed until I announce you, it would be appreciated."

With a put upon sigh, the group gathered in an out of the way corner and turned to Harry.

_Well, mate_ Ron said_ Gonna make us invisible?_

Shaking out Merlin's staff, Harry concentrated. Every night, he made sure to take at least an hour to meditate and learn the uses of this remarkable relic. It was, for the most part, actually quite simple. With a surge of his will he raised the staff and brought it sharply to the floor. With a strange force of thought, he enclosed himself and his friends in a bubble, surrounding them to a foot outside of them. With a bit of a twist, he managed to make it faintly visible to his friends and impenetrable by outsiders.

"Cool." Ron said. They settled in to watch the incoming students. It was hard, seeing faces they knew, faces that, in their world, had not made it even this far in life.

Ginny frowned suddenly. Her eyes narrowed and darted around as her mouth worked silently, as if she were counting.

"What is it, Gin?" Hermione asked.

"It's just… I think, I think there are more students then there were in our world." She cocked her head slightly to the left. "Yeah, I can feel everyone, but about a quarter of them are completely unfamiliar to me."

Wondering at this, the others also extended their senses to Hogwarts, and discovered the same thing.

"I wonder," Hermione said slowly, "if the fact that Voldemort was forced into hiding before he could get quite as bad as he was in our world, if that means that there are more muggleborns that were alive to come to Hogwarts, and thus more witches and wizards when those grew up and had children."

Ron blanched.

"Y'mean?" His voice was hoarse; he cleared it. "You mean to say, that- that _that_ many people were- were killed, or never even _born,_ in our world?" His tone was incredulous.

The others surveyed the flood of students with sickened hearts. In that moment they determined, even stronger than before, not to let this world be overcome by the same darkness that had tainted theirs.

After the timid first years trickled in, they watched in amusement as Professor McGonagall greeted them with a speech nearly word-for-word the same theirs had been. Afterwards, they watched the first years disappear and headed as one to the same door to wait for Dumbledore's introduction.

Neville quickly pulled out an object of similar size to the long forgotten Rememberall and clasped it between his hands as he concentrated. As he uncovered it and held it out to the center of their group, they heard a voice, almost as clearly as if it had come from right in front of them.

"-ter, Alec!" Was what they heard.

"That's McGonagall!" Hermione whispered excitedly. She looked at Neville with glee. "You didn't tell us you could do this!" She accused, albeit good-naturedly.

Neville shrugged, a bit abashed.

"I wanted to make sure I could make it- and work it- before I told anybody. Be a pretty poor Lord of Hufflepuff if I couldn't manage any of Lady Helga's particular gifts." He rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Luna smiled widely and kissed him on the cheek.

"Nice job," was all she said.

It seemed the Hat finally decided for they heard a shout of **HUFFLEPUFF** coming from the strange orb.

"Mate," Ron said, "this is bloody awesome."

They relaxed with the knowledge that they would be able to hear the Headmaster's initial introduction. In the time that followed, they counted two new Gryffindors, one Ravenclaw, two more Hufflepuffs, and three Slytherins. Then came the moment they had been waiting for.

"Now," came Dumbledore's voice, "This year, Hogwarts is attempting a trial run of a new program. We have this year, six part-time students who will be joining us as they attend classes in order to gain Ministry approved NEWTs in their chosen courses." He paused to allow the murmuring to subdue. "Yes, it's not something we've ever done before, but the precedent has been set in several other Wizarding schools throughout the world. That said, they will not be associated with any one House and thus will not be sorted. They will not partake in the point system and are not under Prefect jurisdiction. If a Prefect has a problem with one of our guests, I ask them to approach a teacher or myself with their suspicions. We will deal accordingly. Now, without further adieu," Harry and Neville quickly dismissed their spells and the group organized themselves into a line-and just in time as they heard, through the now open door, "allow me to introduce our newest students!"

Without outward calm but some inward turmoil, the six friends filed in, Luna leading the way followed by Ginny, Neville, Ron, Hermione, and, finally, Harry. They were all glad that they had chosen some of their nicer clothes, robes in color instead of black. Harry wore emerald robes, Ginny in scarlet, Hermione chose a deep blue whereas Luna's were a brilliant shade of startlingly bright blue. Neville had on a golden brown robe and Ron had decided upon an orange that, strangely enough, managed not to clash with his hair. They wore some of their nicer clothes beneath the open robes. Harry had decided on a pair of dark gray jeans which he paired with a grey button-up shirt that was pinstriped with emerald and which opened at the neck. He had managed, with a bit of doing, to make his hair appear less of a mess, and more of a controlled chaos. At least, that's what his mirror told him. The others were fairly similar in dress, Ginny wore gray as well, though slacks and a shirt that opened to show a deep red camisole underneath. Hermione's were black, her shirt embroidered in blue, and Luna defied normality by pairing her bright blue robes with an equally astonishing white. Neville simply wore slacks and a shirt of a darker brown and Ron, having decided against black in order to avoid Halloweenish colors, had decided instead to wear a deep purple, which seemed to the rest to be inspired by the twins.

Harry resisted the urge to study the faces at the head table and instead stood impassively as they waited. Dumbledore beamed at them.

"There are seats set aside for you at the head table, after I introduce you, please proceed to the farthest free seat." His eyes twinkled ominously and Harry suddenly wished that he had taken the opportunity to study the table after all. Dumbledore's smile widened and he turned back to the student body.

_I have a bad feeling about this…_ Ginny said dubiously. They all did.

"If Miss Ginny Gryf would please step forward and then take her place at the table," Dumbledore said. Ginny stepped forward, allowed her audience to view her in her entirety and then made her way to the first open seat at the farthest end of the table. Once she sat, she sighed in their minds.

_I was right, I think. I'm between Remus and Sprout, left to right, but I think that some of you are going to be less than pleased…_ She might have continued, but the Headmaster was speaking again.

"If Mister Neville Huff will step forward and take his seat."

Neville stepped forward, paused for about three heartbeats, and then followed the path Ginny had taken. They were astonished to hear a disgruntled oath from him in his mind.

_I'm between Sprout and _Snape_!_ They all heard.

Feeling a bit of trepidation now, Harry and Ron glanced across Hermione at each other.

"Mister Ron Sly, if you would please join the others." Dumbledore twinkled merrily at Ron gulped and stepped forward slowly to make his way to the table.

_Oh, for the love of Merlin!_ His "voice" was disgusted. _That old goat sat me between Snape and McGonagall!_

Harry and Hermione's faces twitched as they struggled not to laugh, but Luna had no such compunction and laughed gaily as Dumbledore introduced her as herself. The students seemed a bit taken aback by this apparently warrantless laughter, but they were further shocked when she skipped to the Headmaster and kissed him on the cheek before going to her seat, which, she let them know, was to be between the Headmaster and Flitwick.

"Why thank you, my dear," Professor Dumbledore said, "if Miss Hermione Claw would now take her seat."

Hermione coolly stepped forward for a moment and then made her way to the closer end of the table.

…_um, I'm between Flitwick and… Sirius…_

Harry nearly gave a violent start, but managed to control himself although his heart suddenly began pounding frantically. With a rush in his ears, he heard Dumbledore introduce him.

"And last, but not least, Mister Harry Potter, if you would please seat yourself."

As the gasps rang out, Harry simply stood still for a moment before moving to the table himself. Acting on autopilot, he found the last empty seat that was not the Headmaster's and sat himself. Once seated, Dumbledore reminded the school of the rules and bade them eat. As he removed the podium from which he had spoken, food began appearing, but the noise did not dampen down immediately. Several students seemed to be staring at Harry and whispering frantically, a few such groups were noticeably agitated.

_Uh… Harry?_ Hermione's mind voice came to him timidly _You, er, might want to look at who you're seated by…_

With a bit of a start, Harry turned first to his left.

A Sirius Black that had never had his life interrupted by Azkaban looked him calculatingly in the face.

"Er. Hello?" Harry greeted him tentatively. After all, what does one say to the unknowing counterpart to one's dead Godfather? Sirius's mouth twitched a bit and his eyes lightened.

"You don't sound terribly sure there," he said lightly. "Would you rather it were a goodbye, instead?"

"Oh! Er, no, you just-" Harry paused in an effort to think about what to say. "You remind me rather a lot of somebody I once knew," he said carefully. "It startled me, is all."

"Well, in that case, I suggest you turn around because you rather remind me of a few people as well and they're to your right there," Sirius said, staring at Harry as though wishing to capture every iota of his reaction.

Rather dreading what he might find, Harry turned to his right. He almost wished he hadn't.

_DAMN THAT MEDDLING OLD COOT!_ All five of his friends suddenly winced a bit and Harry dimly heard Flitwick rather concernedly ask Hermione and Luna if they were quite alright.

"Oh, yes," Luna said faintly, "just a Flittering-Flizwee. They're awful testy when they feel they haven't been invited to the right meal." This answer seemed to put the minute Professor rather at a loss and he wisely decided to go back to his meal.

For at Harry's right were, Lily Potter and James Potter, respectively, and they were both staring at him with no small amount of curiosity and shock.

**A brief seating chart:**

**OC(ooh, who is it?); James; Lily; Harry; Sirius; Hermione; Flitwick; Luna; Dumbledore; McGonagall; Ron; Snape; Neville; Sprout; Ginny; Remus; Hagrid. And along the edges that I did not include, you can imagine all of the other teachers if you want- how big is this table anyway?- but I'm only concerned with this lot right now. :) I hope you've enjoyed the chapter! **

**Review if you want to, but no pressure :D Goodnight!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Isn't this fun? Never owning Harry Potter? Even in my _dreams _I don't own Harry Potter, so that should tell y'all just how much I don't own Harry Potter. :P**

**Btw, I'm going to state right now that I am in no way homophobic or whatnot, that is not the purpose of what is to come. I could easily have accomplished similar meaning with a different cast but this is the way it came to me. Sorry, I feel the need to state this because I know some people are rather judgmental for no reason. I don't think anyone should have a problem with this though. ;) And also, in case it is confusing, please recall that the six friends are not supposed to know who anybody is. **

Harry was in no little amount of shock himself.

"Um… Hi." They blinked. For a long moment, the trio simply stared, the two at the one and the one at the two.

"You look like you could be one of our children!" Lily blurted out suddenly. She immediately blushed and covered her cheeks in horror.

Harry's heart clenched painfully and he could not help looking away momentarily as his hand twitched against his will on the table. A hand came down on his left shoulder.

"You okay there?" Sirius asked, concern touching his eyes. Harry jerked his head slightly in a grotesque semblance of a nod.

"'m okay." He mumbled.

A derisive snort sounded to Sirius's left. Hermione, apparently, disagreed.

"Please," her voice was scathing, "the boy could have a bloody basilisk fang sticking through his arm, _but he's okay._" She not-so-gently shoved Sirius backwards in his seat to glare at Harry. Seeing that he was rather pale and tense, though, she had pity on him. _I'll tell them_ she whispered in his mind and he thanked her softly.

Hermione smiled sadly. "It's hard for Harry to hear that, ma'am," she said, turning more towards the elder Potters, "because his parents died when he was just a little over a year old and before Ron's family took him in, his muggle relatives were-" here she hesitated, looking at Harry before continuing, "they were, well. Not nice." She struggled a bit, her brown eyes glowing with barely hidden anger. "They didn't like magic, you see."

The hand that still rested on his shoulder tensed slightly and the alter Potters had similar reactions; Lily gasped in horror and James hissed in sudden understanding. Harry finally settled his racing emotions and spoke up.

"It wasn't that bad," he lied, with just a touch of a laugh in his voice as he reached for his pumpkin juice, "'snot like they _beat_ me." Out of his peripheral vision he noticed Hermione's hand twitch and he was sure he felt Ron growl a bit in his mind. "In any case," he said as he piled his plate with food, "Ron's mum pretty much adopted me when she found out and I've been with them since." _Not _quite_ a lie_, he thought to himself.

"I-" James stopped himself, confused. "But, your last name is Potter?"

Harry stopped, too, and feigned confusion. "Yeah," he said, "so?"

Lily seemed at a loss for words. Finally, she gathered her wits. "Because _our_ last name is Potter."

"Oh," Harry said, a bit lamely. "That _is_ rather odd, now, isn't it?" He turned back to his meal.

Getting that that was as much information as Harry was willing to part with at the moment, Hermione moved back into the conversation.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes brightly inquisitive (and bright with a bit of mischief if you knew her well), "That's interesting. May I ask, what are your names and what do you teach here?"

Sirius looked a bit startled to have the conversation prove so very unsatisfying despite the fact that it was occurring directly under his nose. Lily blushed slightly.

"We probably should have introduced ourselves," she said with a trace of guilt. She smiled apologetically. "My name is Lily Potter and this is my husband, James. I teach the Sixth and Seventh years Charms, and I brew the potions for the Hospital Wing as well as teaching the First through Third years." She turned to James and raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, yes," he said hurriedly, catching his wife's eye in understanding, "I teach Fourth through Sixth year Transfiguration, Sixth and Seventh Defense, and I help coach the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams." The last he grumbled.

Feeling she knew the reason why and wanting to tease, Hermione asked innocently, "Teams?"

Sirius grinned openly at the disgruntled look on his long-time friend's face.

"It was determined early on that the only teams he could react to without any sort of bias were the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws," Sirius seemed hardly able to contain his laughter in the face of his friend's glare, "so Madam Hooch takes care of the other two. Each House has a Quidditch team, and the teams play against each other for a final winner at the end of the year." Sirius decided to introduce himself and did so with a small flourishing bow from where he sat. "And I'm Professor Sirius Black and I teach the Seventh years Transfigurations, as well as Second to Seventh years Defense."

Taking time now to eat, they all found themselves wondering and puzzling over the conversation. Unfortunately for the Professors, if they wished to avoid appearing rude, they had to wait until they were alone to hold their conversation. This wasn't necessary for the strangest students to ever hit Hogwarts.

_Un-fricken-believable_ came Ron's voice _Snape- _Snape!-_ is very nearly pleasant to talk to. Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming._

_Well… _came Ginny's sly voice_ if _that's_ the sort of thing you dream of…_

The rest could almost feel Ron's flush. They could most definitely feel the incoherent rush of disgust and horror that filled him. He was very much attracted to the fairer sex, thank you. And even if he weren't, the Greasy Git was hardly game.

_Thanks, Gin_ Neville's voice was wry. _That's precisely the image I wanted in my head when seated next to Snape. Remind me if I ever face a boggart again, will you? Especially if _you're _nearby._

If anybody was watching closely, they would have noticed a few slight grimaces among the six as well as the slight upturn of Ginny's nose as she contemplated her soup.

"Oh, not to your liking then?" Remus' warm voice asked her. She had been glad to note that his well-being appeared somewhat less haggard and his dress, while not the epitome of fashion, could hardly be confined to the rag bins either.

"Erm… what?" Ginny was somewhat at a loss. She had, unfortunately for her, been focusing most of her concentration on the silent conversation rather than her surroundings.

Remus eyed her warily.

"You just turned up your nose at your soup," he reminded her uncertainly.

"What?" she said, pretending to be bewildered while she thought of a decent excuse. "Oh! No, that, I was just- thinking- about something." Well, somewhat decent excuse.

"Right." He sounded vaguely skeptical but turned back to his own dinner and the conversation he had been holding with Hagrid which seemed to pertain to magical creatures and laws. In fact, she was fairly certain she'd heard mention of a toad, but was not entirely sure how that fit into such a conversation. Mammoth toads that spit some sort of acid, maybe? Was there even such a thing, she wondered. She shrugged and never realized quite how close she had gotten to the truth. She turned back to her own dinner instead. She had but a few moments peace, though, before Ron evidently discovered a way to get back at her.

_Y'know maybe I was wrong_ he seemed to be musing.

Knowing better than to answer him, Ginny ignored him. Unfortunately, (for her and everyone else able to understand) she did not control Harry. Harry, who was desperate for something to distract him even slightly from the presence of his very much alive Godfather and parents, asked.

_Wrong about what, Ron?_ He had the sense to be vaguely alarmed as he felt the snicker in Ron's mind, but it was too late.

_Why about getting yon Remus and dearest Tonks together. You never know, perhaps if that boggart of Neville's had changed into something a bit more form-fitting, things might have happened differently. _And, of course, with this thought came a picture attached and a picture is worth a thousand words. And this was a thousand words that the rest of the six wished had been left unsaid.

Their reactions were instantaneous. Ginny choked into her soup, causing Remus to view her in alarm and reach out, causing her to cringe, and Neville reacted as though he'd been clobbered in the head by a rogue bludger. The dazed look in his eyes had Sprout asking him if he was quite alright. Hermione's lips all but disappeared as she gripped her chair tightly and she grew closer in appearance to McGonagall faced with delinquents than she ever had. Why, even Luna, sweet, dreamy Luna, paled with a suddenness that inspired Dumbledore to inquire if everything was well, and, did she require a lemon drop? But worse, worse was Harry, who paled, flushed, and then paled again with such urgency that the room began to sway with the rapid movement of his blood.

Placing one hand to hold his head upright and another to grip the table steadily, Harry breathed in deeply. The image gifted them so magnanimously by Ron was that of a disheveled Severus Snape attired in what is better left said as not enough, reaching out, not hands of anger to strangle poor third year Neville, but hands of rather a different passion to one Remus Lupin. But, as Ronald w_as _a wizard, and a Pureblood one at that, and was thus accustomed to Wizarding pictures, the image did not stop there. Not quite. It continued to include an equally amorous Lupin swooping Snape up in bridle style. Then it stopped. And looped back to the initial innocuous beginning before coming once more to its unpredictable ending.

Luna, trying desperately to refuse the proffered lemon drop with grace, cupped one hand around her ring and muttered softly. Whatever she muttered did absolute wonders as the image ceased and faded in their minds. Venomous thoughts were suddenly directed towards the youngest male Weasley and he made the mistake of wincing.

Inquiring as to the reason of the wince, Severus Snape would never know why the young student seated to his right suddenly paled and choked violently on air upon seeing him. For what Luna had done was to make Ron's own image of Snape the first one to come to mind when he looked the Professor in the eyes. It would fade, she assured them, when she felt that he had learned a vital lesson in shoving unwanted images into others' minds. In the meantime, Ron stammered and looked nowhere near the Potion Master's eyes as he tried to dispel the green tinge in his skin.

The faculty and staff of Hogwarts came to the unenviable conclusion that the six newest students of Hogwarts were possibly the strangest to enter said halls.

Unable to return to the earlier conversation without either a bit of nausea or a tinge of violent promise, or both, all conversation was pretty much halted. Luckily, the friends were able to feign exhaustion and soon the feast was over and they ascended once more to their Room. Assuring the concerned Professors that they had already been shown the way to their rooms, they shook off all of the unwanted stares as they left.

As they sat in their Common Room, not speaking, Ron hovered nervously near Slytherin's exit, probably hoping to stem the tide of unwanted visitors if necessary. It proved not, fortunately for him.

Breathing deeply in and out, Hermione snapped to attention and summoned the Board of Information from its place in the Ravenclaw rooms.

"It would seem that the teachers have split responsibilities in this world," she began, "and- Oh, Ronald, stop cowering away like that and pay attention. As," she took a steadying breath, "as disturbing as the imagery you provided us with was, thanks to Luna, we are all somewhat recovered. Provided we can forget it." She smirked at him. "Thankfully, we should be able to do just that soon."

Scowling slightly, Ron settled into a seat as far from Luna as possible. She smiled sweetly at him. Never piss off a Lovegood. They have odd ways of retaliating.

"Anyways," she continued, shaking her mane of hair over one shoulder, "I've come to the conclusion that, due to the influx of students that our world never knew, the teachers have found it, not only necessary, but helpful, to split classes amongst a larger body of Professors, providing the students with better care and better management. Therefore, I would like to know what you all have learned of the teaching schedule. This," she referred to the bit of information already added, "is what Harry and I discovered."

Slowly, it came about that not only were the Professors Potter and Black split amongst their duties, but so, too, were most of the classes. Remus taught Defense to the ickle firsties and shared Defense of the Seventh years with James and Sirius. Something about needing all hands on deck for those classes, especially when Gryffindor and Slytherin were involved. He also taught History to the years Fourth through Seventh, evidently a much more interesting figure than Binns. Perhaps the cruelest surprise, though, came when Ron revealed that, not only was Snape most definitely not attracted to other males, but he was married. His wife, one Syrina Snape, had been placed at the other end of the table, beside James, and she was the Professor of Herbology to all First through Fourth years and taught History from First to Third. With McGonagall facing both Head of House and Deputy Headmistress duties, and the others with their own Head of House duties, the resultant divvying of classes was useful. It did not help that, for all but Snape, the other Heads were getting rather older. Naturally, with more students there arose more difficulties and so, besides having more time to deal with those issues, they also needed the help of Lily Potter and Syrina Snape in the Hospital Wing.

The six were relieved to discover, that despite the influx of students and the mangled mess of the time-tables that made, other teachers remained the same. Such as Hagrid, who they all rather hoped to befriend again.

Finally finished with the additions, Hermione looked at the Board and scoffed.

"Dumbledore was right. I cannot _believe_ we failed to research such a simple thing." She flounced to a nearby sofa. "If we had had the sense to do this before, we never would have been surprised tonight."

Ron kissed her forehead gently.

"Ah, but what's the fun in that?" he teased. Suddenly, he yawned. "Well, I think I'm going to bed."

With murmurs of assent, the others followed, feigned exhaustion suddenly becoming real. As the boys went their separate ways in Slytherin, Neville could be heard to murmur _Sweet dreams, Ron_. The others snickered quietly as their heads made contact with their pillows and a final jab at Ron could not be resisted.

_After all, we already know what sorts of things _you_ think of, Ron…_ As she said this, Ginny yawned and fell immediately asleep without even waiting to find out what Ron's reaction would be.

**As I said, not homophobic. More along the lines of, well, some things just should NOT be seen. Or imagined. Oh, look! I made you imagine it :) LOL. Ahhh, yeah, I have problems :P**

**Lots of thanks to Zakuro46 for being such an awesome person and reviewing. Hint: next person(or-dare I say it?-people) to review get such lovely adjectives as epic and fantastic. Don't you want to be epically fantastic? Well, don't you?**

**Well. I'm a bit hyper tonight, so don't mind me :) But, if you leave a super awesome review, I'll even let you pick your _own_ adjective. I mean, c'mon, how sweet a deal is that? **

**Lol, jk, sorta. Same as ever, review only if you want to :D Peace, everyone!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Oh dear, aside from not being J.K. Rowling, the fact that I am so horrible at constant updating should show how very NOT Rowling-ish I am. **

**I do apologize most sincerely, and, despite the fact this could possibly have gone on longer to make a more lengthy chapter, I felt that something was better than nothing after all of this time.**

The next morning proved bright and clear despite the early hour. Remembering that they needed to attend breakfast at the Head table, the six got up and dressed, choosing plain black robes that were only slightly different from the school robes. Convening in their Common Room, the six were slightly startled by the sudden appearance of Tibby, who carried with him six slashes of purple.

"Heres you go, masters and mistresses," the squeaky voice piped. Large, bulbous eyes watched them. "The Headmaster is being insisting you wears these as identification." With that, Tibby silently offered a slip of cloth to each of them before _pop_ping away.

"He has a strange fixation on the color purple, doesn't he?" Neville said, eying the tie critically.

Ginny sighed with resignation. She glanced at her tie with distaste.

"That he does, Neville, that he does." So saying, she led the way to the Great Hall.

They were still reluctantly affixing their ties when they arrived, finding that, as they were somewhat early, there were plenty of places for them to sit and so they settled towards the end of the table closest to the Gryffindor side of the hall. Soon, Professor Dumbledore walked in and his eyes twinkled especially brightly upon seeing their ties.

"Ah, wonderful, wonderful," he beamed at them. "These ties are to show your affiliation with Hogwarts, but of course, as wonderful a color as purple is, you may of course change the color." He brandished a warning finger, though. "Please keep them a solid color, if you will, if you start getting into patterns and such, you may end up being confused with the rest of the student body." With a grandfatherly pat, he left them.

_Hmm…_ Ginny mused quietly. _As much fun as it would be to change it every day, I think it would be best if we each picked a particular color._ She tapped hers thoughtfully with her new wand. It became a deep shade of ruby. _Ah, as I thought. _She felt their confusion._ Just tap yours, too. You'll see what I mean._

Sharing skeptical looks, the others followed her directions. They were shocked to discover that a simple tap changed their ties to what could only be described as their "House" color. Ron's turned emerald green, Neville's bright yellow, Hermione's navy blue, Luna's purest white, and Harry's turned a shimmery shade of silver.

"Well," Ron said critically, "it appears that Hogwarts has some very definite preferences."

A vaguely chime-like snort echoed through their thoughts.

_Well, of course _Hogwarts whispered_ you don't become spontaneously sentient without forming a _few_ of your own opinions, Mr. Weasley _They all heard her laugh fade away. Upon seeing the gob smacked look on Ron's face, the others couldn't help chuckling a bit either.

Grumbling, Ron began piling his plate high with food. As the others began doing the same, the rest of the Professors trickled in and more students arrived.

_I don't remember this many students getting up quite this early in our world_ Hermione said, somewhat skeptically.

Looking up, Harry studied the Hall. His eyebrow rose._ Hmm, looks like they're curious._ For indeed, all of the students were failing in their attempts at subtlety as they watched the Professors' table.

_Well _Neville said slyly, drawing the word out. _We could always give them a bit of a show, couldn't we?_

_What do y_**AHH**! With an unmanly shriek, Harry toppled to the floor, his chair pulled out from under him, giving him an unexpected view of the surprised faces of the Potters, Sirius, and Remus.

"Oh," he said lamely, "hello."

Sirius grinned. "Hello there," he said cheerfully. "You do rather like to make an impression, don't you?" he asked, leaning down to help the young man up. Harry scowled at his so called friends as he pulled up his chair.

"Not so much that," he said "so much as I have horrible taste in friends." He decided to ignore the barely hidden laughter of his now ex friends. Sniffing disdainfully, he instead turned his attention to the Professors. With Sirius to his right, and Remus, followed by James and Lily on Sirius's other side, Harry turned almost completely away from his friends, Ginny being seated directly by him, and instead engaged the Professors in a light conversation.

By mutual, albeit silent, agreement, they steered clear of any potentially dangerous topics and instead chatted lightly on the mundane and trivial. By the time breakfast was over, Harry's friends were agreeably contrite, the students had concluded that they had woken up early for breakfast for no discernable reason, and nothing of significance had been said between the Marauders and Harry. And then it was time for classes.

Speaking of which…

"Oh!" Lily Potter turned around, her expression apologetic. She busied herself with the parchment she held under one arm. "I was supposed to give you all your schedules since all the Heads of Houses need to give out the ones for their students." She separated each schedule and handed them to them. "Here," she said, "I hope it's easy enough to understand, especially considering you're not any of you taking on a full schedule." She smiled at them. "I see at least three of you will be under my tutelage for the rest of the year. I hope we can have a good time." With one last smile, she was once more on her way, leaving the six to peruse their schedules.

"Hmm," Hermione said, glancing rather thoroughly through everyone's schedules. She straightened and tapped her wand against a spare bit of parchment. "Alright, I've organized our schedules according to who shares what and so on and so forth." Rolling the parchment out, the six hovered over the end of the table to see where she pointed. "See here, on Mondays, Harry, Ron, and Neville have Potions with the Gryffindors and Slytherins, I have Arithmancy with Ravenclaw, and Ginny has Transfiguration with Gryffindor." She looked at them. "Transfiguration is in the morning, Potions is in the afternoon." Once she knew they understood, she continued. "Alright then, Tuesday morning Harry, Ron, and Ginny have Charms with Slytherin, and I have History of Magic with Gryffindor at the same time. Wednesday we all have Defense, but Harry and Ron have it with Gryffindor and Slytherin in the afternoon and the rest of us have it in the morning with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff." She narrowed her eyes at both boys. "You _will_ behave," she said sternly, "or I'll know why." Threat carried out, she continued with her organization. "On Thursday, Neville and Luna have Herbology with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in the morning, and Sunday evening Luna has Astronomy with the Ravenclaws." She glanced up at everyone, "Clear?" When everyone had nodded she rolled up the parchment and sent it off to the Board of Information. "Well," she said, looking to Ron, "since the rest of us have Defense right now, why don't you and Harry see what you can do without getting into any trouble?"

Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly and grabbed Ron. "Come on, _Ronald_, let's go be good little boys and stay out of trouble." As they walked away, the others could hear the two discussing ferrets and dogs named Fluffy, and decided they didn't really want to know after all.

"Well," Hermione said, shaking her head slightly, "It's a good thing we came already prepared."

"Yeah," Neville replied, checking the time, "we've got ten minutes to get to class and I'd rather not be split up." Thankful that they had decided to use shoulder bags spelled the same as Hermione's beaded purse and therefore fit all of their school things at once, the four set off in the direction of the Defense room, pleasant anticipation in their veins.

While the others were in class, Harry and Ron decided to do a bit of exploring now that they were 'allowed' to be seen. Despite warnings to the contrary, the two wandered casually into the Forbidden Forest, keeping a careful watch on the time and reminiscing like old men as they walked.

"Strange, isn't it?" Ron asked Harry. "Seems like every time we've been in the forest, it's been a near life threatening experience, yeah?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, before nodding.

"Hmm. Except for that time I found Luna out here feeding thestrals, yeah, I think you're right."

Ron snorted. "Right. Because thestrals are 'Just so cuddly!'"

They were still snickering when they heard a crashing sound coming towards them, putting them both on instant alert.

Meanwhile, the others were experiencing their first class in the "new" world.

They entered the room to find that half the class had already assembled.

_I suppose having these three as Professors WOULD make things rather exciting _Hermione commented drily.

Ginny snorted in a rather indelicate fashion as the four managed to seat themselves near each other, Ginny and Hermione at a bench in front of Luna and Neville.

It took only a minute more for the rest of the class to pour in and for the lesson to begin.

"Now," Professor Black said gleefully, clapping his hands together, "due to the honor-"

"The privilege," Professor Potter corrected.

"Of course, privilege, thank you, Professor Potter," Professor Black said with a bit of a mischievous flourish. "Due to the overwhelming _privilege_ of being in our quite renowned seventh year of Defense class, we, your estimable-"

"Awesome," Professor Potter put in.

"Wonderful," Professor Lupin added helpfully. "Don't forget wonderful."

"Yes, yes, we, your estimable, awesome, wonderful, and super kick-ass Professors- pardon me, forget to tell Minnie or Professor Potter's absolutely lovely other half that I said that. As I was saying-" he broke off to look at his fellow teachers. "What exactly was I saying? I got lost in the glorifying of our names."

Professor Potter cleared his throat importantly and glanced down at the parchment he held in his hands.

"Ah, yes, it says here that after we introduce ourselves as the wonderful wizards we are, we tell them what we have in store for them." He snapped the parchment into a roll and pointed at Professor Lupin. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Professor Lupin smiled. "Why yes, Professor Potter, I would be glad to inform the class that as a special start-of-term treat we will be teaching them the Patronus Charm."

As the class broke out in excited whispers, the only thought the four otherworlders in the class could think was _Shit!_

**Alright, alright. Excuses, what are they? Besides work and health unexpectedly kicking my ass, I'm quite afraid I got caught up in my other stories... please don't hate me. Please know that I will not ever abandon this though, as terribly unhelpful as that may seem.**

**And as promised:**

lordamnesia**, or should I say, Lord AWESOME :D, thank you so much for your review, yes, I do realize that can now reply privately, but that seems rather awkward to me after all this time... *whistles innocently* thanks so very much for your review, I do hope that I can continue to make the story an enjoyable experience.**

deanine**, I apologize for the choppiness, I can only assume that it is a result of updating three different stories and coming and going from each one. I will strive to work on it, I promise, but for now I thank you for being so wonderful and kind as to review and stick by the story despite its flaws. :)**

**To the wonderful **Zakuro46**, you are indeed awesome and truly EPICLY FANTASTIC. In all honesty. Your review, did you but know it, is one of the reasons there is any chapter at all because it absolutely ate at me that I didn't have anything to put up yet. I apologize for the overwhelming lateness of the update and the possible suckiness of it, but I hope you know that I will do my best to have another chapter out much, much sooner than this one because I hate the feeling of possibly disappointing anyone. Thank you so, so much for your awesome review and I hope that you enjoy this chapter despite the fact that it ought to be much longer considering the time it's taken to get it out. Again, THANK YOU! :)**

**Alright, so small cliff-hanger, nothing major, I just felt that instead of waiting for me to finish the rest of what I've worked on, this was an appropriate place to divide it :) I hope you agree with me. Also, the reason for the lateness, aside from working on my other stories and outside influences and such, was simply due to an inability to figure out exactly where to go from where I'd gotten to in my writing. I think I've figured it out now, so hopefully no more worries there :) Thank you to everybody who still enjoys this story, I hope you have a wonderful night/day!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, less people would have die- actually, take that back. _Different_ people would have died. :)**

Meanwhile…

"Um, Harry?" Ron asked a bit nervously.

"Yes, Ron?" Harry answered, also nervous.

"You think now is a good time to test our, er- _special_ talents?"

"You know," Harry said, viewing the oncoming danger with some trepidation. "I think it is."

With that the two turned and ran, shaking out their wands and their swords as they sought to avoid the rapidly approaching swarm of Acromantulas.

**OoLaaaLaOooo**

Back at the castle the four found themselves under subtle scrutiny.

_Do they really think they're fooling anyone? _Hermione asked grumpily even as she waved her wand in a studious "attempt" at the charm.

_Now, now, Hermione_ Ginny said, mentally grinning. _It's not our fault the Professors aren't capable of watching us discreetly._

_Yes, think of how much practice you're getting at such a difficult spell, Mione. _Neville somehow managed to keep his lips from twitching into a smile. _Although, if you were to show a special proficiency with the spell, maybe they'd leave you alone._

Hermione growled in their minds. Following the rather traditional manner of Professors everywhere, the resident Marauders had asked for a description of the charm before practicing it. Of course, the hand of Ravenclaw's heir shot up. Of course, our curious Professors called upon the newcomer they were somewhat suspicious of. And, of course, they received a perfect answer which merely piqued their curiosity more. Which is how Hermione ended up in front of the class, struggling to make it appear as though she was good at Defense, both wand work and otherwise, but also trying not to cross the boundary into instant prodigy. They didn't really need that sort of attention right now.

But she was beginning to be irritated.

"Expecto Patronum!" Far from sounding happy, though, Hermione's teeth were slightly clenched and her eyes somewhat narrowed in her frustration.

Professor Potter shook his head sadly.

"Now," he said gently, "try it again, but perhaps- a more-" His hands gestured, momentarily at a loss, "_pleasant _memory, if you will."

"Remember," Professor Black added, "Happiness and intent. That's the key here. Happiness. And intent. But especially happiness."

Hermione's mind voice was rather mocking as she grumbled inside.

_They want it? They're gonna get it._

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Gone were the attempts to produce a mere vapor, Hermione gave the spell her all. Once she had had difficulty with it, but going through a war and then acquiring Rowena's memories had given her the ability to cast the spell with ease. After all, what is happier than surviving the war, knowing you can get through something so terrible and still find some good after it? And what is more intent than knowledge and ability an eon old?

What she hadn't counted on was a sudden disruption from the two not present in the classroom.

**OoLaaaLaOooo**

In the forest, Ron and Harry were still running, debating the merits of their animagus forms while trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

"I thought the Acromantulas were in the opposite part of the Forest?" Ron screamed, forgetting momentarily about their mental abilities as they found themselves at a cliff side with nowhere to turn.

"Why're you asking me?" Harry yelled back heatedly. "Why do you expect me to remember what part of the forest they're in? That was bloody ages ago!"

Ron's eyes bulged. He appeared to be seriously debating death by violent asphyxiation on Harry's part just then, but the imminent arrival of his childhood nightmare snapped him out of his violent fantasies.

He screamed like a girl and slashed with his sword, not realizing that he had transferred his old wand to the same hand.

There was a brilliant flickering of light and comic yelp from the gigantic spider and it exploded.

"What the bloody hell?" Ron stared at his sword with awe. It had somehow fused with his original wand so that he could wield them both as one. He laughed in somewhat maniacal delight. "This is bloody amazing!" He yelled.

He eyed the still coming horde with an unholy glee in his eyes. If his hands had been free, he would have been rubbing them in a rather stereotypical villainous manner. As it was he began to point and stab his sword in the direction of all the spiders. Loud booms became the background music as a stunned Harry Potter watched his red headed friend dance his way to victory.

By the time it was over and the spiders realized it was in their best interest to make a rather speedy retreat, Harry had found himself a comfortable rock to sit on and was doing his 'Merlin Meditation'.

On Hermione's part however, the mental distress that leaked from the two had hit her at the precise moment she was unleashing her power to give an extremely vivid Patronus. The result was a rather unexpected view of the boys' adventure- a view the whole classroom was able to enjoy. With sound.

When the image first appeared, sometime after the boys had begun running, Hermione's jaw had dropped in comic fashion and she had looked down at her wand, back at the image, and given her wand a shake as though that would put everything to rights. It didn't. She continued to try though.

The class watched in awed fascination as Ron pirouetted and two-stepped to the beat of exploding acromantulas. It was when the spiders began to run away that Hermione finally managed to get rid of it despite the fact that she had been trying the entire time.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM, DAMMIT!" Sweating some now, Hermione was determined to get the bloody spell right. This time it worked. The silvery image disappeared as her familiar otter appeared and danced around the room before coming to rest at the feet of a faintly smug Hermione.

"There," she turned triumphantly to the Professors, forehead shining and hair slightly mussed. "I've managed a patronus."

At that precise moment, class ended. Hermione turned smartly, gathered her things and the four friends left, nonchalantly paying no mind to the utter confusion they left behind.

**I won't even attempt to apologize for being a horrible person. I'm hoping to have more time to write now that I've quit my second job. Side note: Having two jobs takes more out of you than you think. It sucked my creative energies- and only for minimum wage! So screw that. Anyways, this chapter was written yesterday and today. I make no promises, but I hope to continue writing at the pace I have been, which is, I get a chapter of something out in a couple of days. Of course, this, as you've most likely come to realize, is not something to count on. I'm gonna try though! :) **

**I hope this admittedly brief chapter manages to amuse you while I work on one with slightly more substance to it ;)**

**THANKS TO THOSE SUPERLY AWESOME PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED: gaul1, Zakuro46, AND Miss Anonymous hp. Y'ALL ARE FANTASTIC! I LOVE Y'ALL! AND EVERYONE WHO FAVORITED AND ALERTED- Y'ALL ARE AWESOMELY COOL, TOO! :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Dude, seriously, I don't own Harry Potter ;)**

**Alright, I'm going to reply to all my awesome reviewers soon (babydoll8901, Cookiefan57, and, last, but most definately not least! Zakuro56), I promise, 'cause y'all are so freakin' epic, but I figured y'all would prefer a chapter (my longest for this story yet! Aren't y'all proud? :P) and so here you go. I must warn you though, I didn't fully intend for this to happen, but it amused me so freaking much that I went with it. Sorry if you don't like it, but, hey, it kept me writing ;)**

The four friends were among the first to make it to the Great Hall to eat for several reasons. Firstly, the class they left behind was so utterly astounded that the mad rush for food was forgone for several seconds. Secondly, the mad rush, when it did occur, was less in an attempt to get to lunch, and more in an attempt to spread the tale to the whole school. Thirdly, spreading the news delayed a majority of the rest of the school as well. Fourthly, the other two it concerned were heading back from the forest, oblivious to the speculation they were being subjected to. Fifthly- well, does there really need to be another reason?

Back in the forest, Ron was laughing in exhilaration.

"Did ya see that, Harry?" He was grinning madly. He looked at his sword and pulled his old wand from it and put it back, took it off, and back on again, looking for all the world as though he could do it all day. "Look! It just fits in when I want it to, and doesn't, when I don't!" He waved his sword/wand (Swand? Sward? Whatever.) in Harry's direction, saying, "Go on, try it with yours. I- whoa…" One of Ron's eyebrows disappeared into his hair. He looked down at his sword hand. "Ah, right. Sorry 'bout that."

Harry, of course, had leapt back rather quickly once Ron started pointing in his direction. He was a bit late however. He glared at Ron.

"Really," he sighed. His voice was a bit higher pitched then he was accustomed to. He grimaced. "I sound like a prepubescent child. What'd you do to me?"

Ron seemed torn between incapacitating amusement, and overwhelming horror. He very carefully separated his old wand from his sword before conjuring a full length mirror for Harry to look in. He then very quickly turned into his animagus form of the red panda and scampered high into a tree.

_Ahaha- _even his mind-voice seemed to have trouble deciding between amusement and fear. _Ahem. Er, you might want to take a look into the mirror, mate. Pretty sure it's only temporary, but if not, I'm sure 'Mione can set you to rights. Or Luna. I dunno. Somebody though. I hope._

Eyes widening in horror, Harry stepped to the mirror. And promptly screamed.

"You turned me into a bloody girl!" Harry came close to sobbing as he frantically felt his body, noticing to his horror not only the additions, but also the lack of a certain part of his anatomy that he was rather fond of. Hell, his whole masculine identity was fond of it. "I'm gonna kill you, Ron Weasley!" Harry was on his knees, the sudden unexpected onslaught of female hormones reducing him to a weeping mass of vengeance as he clutched his missing body parts. "Oh my god…" He sniffed. "Why can't I stop crying?" He wailed. "And why do I feel s-so," he hiccupped, "so alone?" He buried his face in his hands as his tears renewed in force and quantity.

Ron, never one overly comfortable with a girl's tears, found himself descending from the relative safety of his tree because his masculine need to help a damsel in distress apparently couldn't tell the difference between a real damsel, and a fake one. He cursed himself for this as he changed back.

"Alright, alright," he sighed, banishing the mirror as even a brief glimpse of it merely increased the wave of tears. He awkwardly hugged girl Harry, his face slightly twisted as he tried not to think about the reality of the situation. (I mean, Harry was a dude! But, he's a _girl_, and _she's_ crying. Because of you!) Ron really wished his inner voice would shut up and leave him the hell alone. Wasn't it bad enough that he was being forced to comfort a crying girl and said comforting involved holding his best male friend rather closely? Ron didn't really hug guys, it was always a one-armed sort of affair, but he figured he could stuff his male pride for this one instance. It was sort of his fault anyway.

"Look," he said, trying to sound cheerful, "I'm pretty sure that Hermione and Luna can fix this, being Ravenclaw's Heirs and Luna being the Lady." Harry seemed to quiet a bit with that. Taking this as a sign of encouragement, Ron continued brightly, "So all we need to do is get you back to the castle and have them take a look at you." Unfortunately, as soon as he mentioned the castle, Harry started crying again.

"Everybody's going to see me though!" Harry struggled to breathe through all of his crying. "They're gonna see me and think that I'm a gi-ir-rl!" His voice hitched on the last word because of his crying and also due to the fact that Ron had taken to rocking him back and forth. Ron's swaying was a bit too forceful for a legitimate attempt to calm a girl, but, hey, at least he was trying.

"Whoa." Harry said, wide-eyed. He watched the ground sway around him as he was moved by Ron's slightly too vigorous movements. He closed his eyes after a moment. "Alright, alright. Dude, you're gonna make me sick like that." Ron stopped abruptly. Harry's face was momentarily as green as his eyes. After all of the crying, moving like that was a bit nauseating. He sighed, resigned to his hellish fate.

"Alright," he said dejectedly, "take me to the castle." He sniffed a bit, but thankfully the waterspout seemed at an end.

The dawning realization that the feelings poor, despairing girl Harry evoked in him were identical to the feelings Ron had when something happened to Ginny, made Ron pull Harry up a little straighter and begin to walk with determination towards the castle. Harry had always been like a little brother, but it had taken turning him into a girl for Ron to completely comprehend it. Life was full of ironies like that.

Harry sighed wistfully and peered up into Ron's face as they walked.

"D'you think Ginny would be willing to be gay for me? Y'know, if it's per-permanent?" He asked, forlorn hope in his voice as he considered the prospect of being stuck like this. "I really do love her."

Ron stumbled over a nonexistent tree root as he struggled not to think of Harry and his sister together. Gay or straight, there are some things a man doesn't need to know about his little sister. This, he decided firmly, was one of them.

In the Great Hall the rest of the sextet was determinedly ignoring the buzzing roar of incredulous gossiping.

"So," Neville started, chewing on a bite of salad before continuing, "What d'you reckon those two were up to, anyhow?"

"I don't know," Hermione said grimly, stabbing at her piece of chicken viciously, "But it damn well doesn't fit into 'Staying out of trouble'." Her mood was dark as she took a bite of her chicken with slightly sharpened white teeth. Hearing the minor growl coming from the girl, Sirius decided it would be best not to question her about the class. He had just arrived with the other Marauders and, after hearing that statement, accompanied by that growl, he subtly waved his friends on to the other end of the table to sit. He felt that it was safer. It also accorded them the opportunity to discuss the subject at length amongst themselves.

"Did you notice that he said, 'how do you expect me to _remember_ what part of the forest they're in? That was bloody _ages_ ago'?" Remus asked quietly, after Sirius and James had filled in Lily and the two Snapes. He picked up his salad fork with careful consideration and took a neat bite before going on. "That implies that, not only did they know there were Acromantulas in there, but that they should have known _where, _due to the fact that they encountered them at some point in the past. My question," he said calmly, "is when?"

With this question to ponder the others turned to their meal with confusion, wondering once again, just who _were_ these six strange new students? And why did they seem so oddly familiar? They're conversation was halted, however, as the doors to the Great Hall opened once more, gathering the attention of everyone since there were only two of interest not currently present. Nor were they dissatisfied.

Ron Sly, the tall red headed member of the new group stood in the doorway looking a bit sheepish. Beside him slouched a slender female who seemed to be using her long black hair as a shield. Ron appeared to say something to the girl and, when she seemed to resist whatever he said, grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her to the main table.

A sort of dawning horror came over the other new students' faces as the two trudged forward. The professors and students alike watched all of this avidly, knowing that something interesting was about to happen.

Ron and Harry had attempted to mind talk Hermione and the others into coming to meet them in the Room. Unfortunately, not realizing that part of their adventure had been broadcast to the defense room and hence, the whole school, Ron and Harry failed to understand that Hermione was not exactly in a compromising disposition and therefore was unwilling to hear why they wished to meet discreetly, thereby forcing them to enter the Great Hall. Neville, Luna, and Ginny were just amused by the whole scene and thus sided with Hermione without finding out what the boys wanted. They soon wished they had though.

_What? _The rest of Hermione's mental scream was lost in inarticulate babble as she struggled to comprehend just what it was that she was seeing.

_Harry?_ Ginny's "voice" was tentative.

_Aye, Gin. It's me. _Harry's mind voice was still masculine, and his tone was shamefully resigned.

Luna didn't even try to hide the grin that overtook her face. Neville on the other hand whimpered slightly.

_You're a bleeding girl, Harry!_ He shuddered. _Everywhere? _He seemed somewhat hesitant to ask that particular question.

Harry's mental voice was shaky as he answered. _Y-yeah. Pretty sure._

By this time they had made it to the table under the oppressive gaze of the entire Hall.

"What. On earth. Happened?" Hermione spoke slowly, her voice low. Ron flinched and looked down.

"He made me a girl!" Harry clapped his hands over his mouth as he heard the girlish shriek escape him. He cleared his throat and tried to deepen his voice as he spoke. "He was waving his wand around and-" Harry stopped to glare at a giggling first year after he said this before gesturing down at his female body helplessly. "_This_ happened."

Hermione lowered her face into her hands as she was heard to mutter, "Oh, for goodness' sake. This is just- bah!" One hand rose to massage her temple as she kept the other covering her eyes.

Ginny, taking in the avid audience, decided that some measure of privacy was in order, and spoke directly to Dumbledore.

"Headmaster," she said sweetly, "Perhaps we could adjourn to your office so that we can rectify this little mishap?" She peered up at the Headmaster with earnest brown eyes. He twinkled down at her.

"Of course, my dear," she beamed up at him, "after we've all finished this lovely repast, however." He smiled gently even as her face fell slightly. "I'm sure young Ronald and Harry are quite famished after their adventurous morning and another hour or so won't see them come to any harm." He turned his twinkling blue eyes upon the pair in question as he addressed them. "Isn't that so, boys?"

The two hastened to nod and hurried to take seats with their friends, leaving the meal to be a rather frenzied affair as they ate and waited impatiently for the old man to finish his own meal. Dumbledore seemed to take a perverse delight in prolonging his conversation with Professor Sprout on the merits of magical vs. muggle cotton when used to make socks.

_Why do we even have to wait on him? _Harry asked bitterly. _It's not like he's going to be the one able to change it._

_We don't know that, Harry_ Hermione reprimanded him. _In the meantime, Luna and I are trying to think over what our options are. It may just be the Dumbledore is able to help us decide which path to take. Moreover_ she continued sternly _it must seem to the rest of the school as though the great and powerful Dumbledore with all of his wisdom was the one to put right the accidental magic of a hapless teenager. We've caused quite enough of a stir without adding this bit to it, too._

Harry rather impatiently pushed back his red streaked long black hair. He glared out at the mass of students that kept peering at him. He was especially displeased with the snickers he could hear occasionally. Especially the ones to the right of him.

"Oh bloody 'ha ha'," he snarled at Neville and Ron. He thumped his hands angrily on the table in front of him. This action merely brought his attention to the dainty little things he now had and he scowled openly at them. This caused Neville and Ron to snicker a bit more.

"I- I- I'm s-sorry," Neville gasped out, struggling not to laugh at Harry's plight. "I-it's just that y-you're even sm-smaller th-than G-Gin-ny!" This attempt at coherent speech was too much for Neville and he collapsed into Ron as they both giggled helplessly.

Harry's green eyes narrowed furiously.

"I see," he said icily. "So, if we were to turn the two of _you_ into women, you'd both be some sort of Amazons, is that it?" Neville and Ron stopped laughing abruptly as they sensed the imminent danger in Harry's words. They watched his wand hand carefully, making Harry smile grimly.

He went to raise it in a seemingly casual manner when it was plucked from his hands. He was momentarily at a loss; such a cute look of betrayed bewilderment crossed his face that Sirius found himself pulling him into a hug even as he spoke to Lily.

"Aww, why'd you do that," he pouted at her even as he gently rocked the girl Harry had become in his arms. "You know they deserve it. Taking away his manhood." He shuddered violently. He looked down at the now even more bewildered Harry. He found himself resorting to baby talk. "Oh, aren't you just the cutest little she-he." He pinched Harry's cheeks to Harry's overwhelming embarrassment. He looked over to James and Remus. "Can't we keep it-him-her?" He cuddled the tiny Harry closer as he begged, turning puppy eyes towards the two. "Doesn't he-she look just like Ivy Siria to you? I could have another god-daughter running around. Like twins! Oh, the mischief they could make," Sirius trailed off, happily thinking of all the possibilities.

James and Remus looked a little frightened at the apparent madness manifesting in their longtime friend. They had meant to leave before Dumbledore in an attempt to pass by the strange six and get a closer look at the girl the boy Harry had become, when Lily had decided to get all matronly and keep Harry from cursing his two friends. This apparently resulted in Sirius trying to kidnap himself a new child to corrupt. Remus and James shared a long look before taking action.

Remus pried Sirius off of Harry even as James pulled Harry protectively behind him, shoving him slightly towards Lily.

"Now, now, Padfoot, old friend," James spoke calmly. "You can't just go around hugging random students and deciding they're yours. Especially female ones. It just doesn't come off right. Now, I know you don't mean any harm by it," James nodded at him as he spoke, "but just because sh- er, he, looks an awful lot like Ivy at the moment, doesn't mean that he welcomes the sort of attention you're trying to give." He looked vaguely uncomfortable for a moment. "He doesn't know you as well as we do. He might mistake your attentions for something- else."

Sirius looked horrified for a second.

"Eurgh," he offered eloquently. He seemed to snap out of his Godfatherly induced haze. He wrinkled his nose. "That is sooo not what I was doing." He said indignantly. "It's just with the face- and the eyes!- and- he took his manhood from him for Merlin's sake!" Sirius was apparently incapable of expressing his emotions in a cohesive manner. He waved his hands in the air finally. "Oh, fine! I won't try to help anymore."

Somewhere behind James, wrapped uncomfortably- at least on his part- in Lily's arms, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Being a girl was freaking him out enough, being hugged by Sirius, and then Lily, was pushing him dangerously close to more tears. The emotional turmoil this was putting him through was enough to make him plot the untimely demise of both Ron and Neville.

"Oi," he burst out, causing them all to stare at him anew. "I'm a boy, alright? Despite the outward appearance," he scowled dangerously at Ron, "I'm still _me_," he thumped himself in the chest, "and _I_ am not cute, or tiny, or girly, or emotional." He sniffed. "I just want to be treated like myself. Okay?" He asked. He crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at them, daring them to disagree with him.

Taking their silence as acquiescence, he turned abruptly and started heading for the Headmaster's office.

"I'm not coming back out until I'm a man again," he said, walking away. "And that'd better be pretty damn quick."

His friends exchanged glances and hurried after them. Some five minutes later, after the Marauders and Professors Snape had left, Dumbledore was still taking his time about his meal. A sudden blaze alerted the room to the appearance of Fawkes and the subsequent disappearance of Dumbledore. The muttering began anew amongst those left in the Hall.

"Ah," he said slowly, blinking at the sight before him. "I see that you are still in female form, young Harry."

Harry scowled at him, the look threatening to become a permanent one. He was currently quite put out because Ginny was rather amused by his small size and was trying to coerce him into spending a day or so as a girl. Apparently, she didn't mind trading her boyfriend in for a life-sized doll if it was only temporary.

He tried to get away from her, rather disturbed, but she tightened her arms around him and put her chin on his head. To say he was unhappy was an understatement. He wished he could center himself enough that he could enter his Merlin meditation and figure out how to fix the problem himself. Unfortunately, becoming a girl had upset more than just his emotions. It had also scattered bits of his magic core that allowed him access to his Merlin powers, and he was rather anxious not to be stuck like this, small and emotional, without them.

Luna and Hermione finally turned away from the parchment they had been convening over.

"Alright," Hermione said decidedly, "thankfully, the answer appears to be fairly straight forward. The homorphus spell causes animagi and other transfigured objects to resume their normal form." She looked at Harry calculatingly. "That said, it should restore you to your rightful form as well." She raised an eyebrow. "Ready to try it?" she asked.

Harry nodded enthusiastically, finally breaking free from a reluctant Ginny's arms. He was going to be tall again! Well, maybe not as tall as Ron, but, still, tall. Taller than his girlfriend at least.

"Let's do this," he said. He braced himself, eyes closed.

Hermione was amused. Obviously, being a girl had not been a fun experience for her friend, she hoped that he learned his lesson about staying out of trouble, but she rather doubted that. She sighed and raised her wand.

"Homorphus!" She cried, slashing her wand in the movement she remembered Remus and Sirius using in her third year, focusing on a male Harry.

There was a brief moment when nothing seemed to happen, and everyone thought about how awful it would be for Harry if this didn't work, when suddenly Harry was back to himself. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did it work?" Harry asked, eyes tightly clenched. He heard his voice, masculine once more and grinned. He opened his eyes and pumped his fist in the air. He made a discreet adjustment to his jeans and grinned even more broadly when he felt it all there. "Thanks, Hermione, Luna," he said earnestly, sweeping them both up in a hug and grinning that he wasn't drastically shorter than them both any more. He nodded at Dumbledore. "You can go back to your meal now, sir. Tell them you got everything straightened out." He sighed happily. "If you don't mind," he said, "I think I'm going to skip Defense this afternoon." He yawned tiredly. "All those emotions damn near wore me out."

"Of course, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore smiled. "I think that little will be achieved today anyways, in light of the circumstances. I will let the Professors know that neither of you will be attending class today, and not to expect you until next time." He looked over his half-moon glasses at them. "I suggest you all get your rest. You've managed to become quite the celebrities around the school already, and I feel exhausted already just thinking about what you lot will manage to get into tomorrow." He shooed them off gently, smiling at Fawkes after they apparated back to their Rooms. "You know," he told the bird fondly, "I think this will all work out after all." He shook his head gently, chuckling quietly as he went through his mail. "Yes," he murmured, "I do believe it will."

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it ;) Goodnight y'all!**


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